Comments on: “Freedom, creativity and the internet” – motion passed at LibDem conference

By: Duncan Stott

Duncan Stott — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:09:50 +0000

Thanks Lynne, greatly appreciated.

By: Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:17:25 +0000

Well – have put a call into Don Foster’s office to clarify for me our position if goes to wash up. The Leader of the House today said it would come back to the Commons for Second Reading – rumours are 6th April. I will post more as I find out about progress.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:28:26 +0000

It’s a blessing…as long as someone objects!

By: Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:26:13 +0000

If the Bill does go to wash up – that is an opportunity to veto anything that is in it – as you have to have agreement across the three parties to let it pass. So – not sure that is not a blessing rather than a problem.

By: Duncan Stott

Duncan Stott — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:02:44 +0000

Lynne,

I’m glad that you’re pleased that this Emergency Motion passed.

There is real concern that the government is attempting to barge the dreadful Digital Economy Bill through parliament in the “wash-up”, with practically no debate on the multiple clauses that would change the character of the Internet for the worse. The success of the Net is down to its free nature. As it rapidly becomes a central part of the way we live, jeopardising the Internet’s freedom is fundamentally an attack on our personal freedom.

Just as the Internet is growing, the electorate are also becoming increasingly tech-savvy. There are sure to be more and more votes up for grabs for the party that grabs the technology bull by its USB horns. This is the first big test to see if we are up to the challenge.

There is a real urgency required here, and I am worried that failure to act fast will allow the government off the hook. I’m sure the party is working behind the scenes to block the Bill, but from the outside I am concerned that we aren’t acting fast enough to make sure this damaging legislation gets stopped.

As Chair of the Party’s Technology Board, it would be greatly appreciated if you could write a blogpost on what the party is doing to make sure this Bill fails. It would reassure both party members and the wider tech-savvy electorate that the Lib Dems are the party with the will to stand up for Internet freedom.

Thanks.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:32:26 +0000

Are you going to follow this up with action, and object to the DEB going through in the wash-up?

By: deusmetallum (Matthew Ames)

deusmetallum (Matthew Ames) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:39:54 +0000

http://tinyurl.com/yj6u3ea Libdem vote on Freedom, creativity and the internet. Let’s not cry wasted vote and put a tick in the lib dem box!

By: mort47 (Bill Hayes)

mort47 (Bill Hayes) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:59:54 +0000

Go Lib Dems! http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2010/03/freedom-creativity-and-the-internet-motion-passed-at-libdem-conference.htm

By: Mark Pack

Mark Pack — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:56:23 +0000

There’s an awful lot of people who have said the Digital Economy Bill as it stands will threaten Britain’s economic health and freedom of expression, including BT, Yahoo, Google, Virgin Media, Talk Talk, eBay and more – ( see http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2010/03/letter-to-the-ft-financial-times-amendment-120a-digital-economy-bill/ ).

Have they all been taken over by fileshare lobbyists and joined the Pirate Party? I suspect not… :-)

By: BeeTee

BeeTee — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:15:54 +0000

Hi Lynne
Well, this is a wild ride; after last weeks Amendment 120a by the LD Lords we’ve now got this 180! Why are you pleased about this passing? It states that you’re completely against the Digital Economy Bill, which is the only legislation proposed to protect the UK’s digital economy. Are you suggesting that we don’t need to protect our digital economy?

Who should be responsible for content on the internet? If you don’t want to block websites and regard ISP’s as “common carriers” how would you deal with the obvious perils of the internet? This proposal makes the LDs the only party with no policy to protect industry, and policy that states a belief in an uncontrollable internet, with no limits at all. Surely that only serves to protect criminals and threatens the jobs of UK content creators? What do you mean by “fair use”?

Shocked that this passed as policy, looks like filesharing lobbyists have controlled the policy making of the party. I don’t see any balanced debate and you seem to of listened to a bunch of people that met online that have the same opinion, because they like stealing stuff and don’t think it should be wrong. Bad day for musicians, digital artists, programmers, journalists, etc; the LDs have joined the Pirate Party!