[ Thanks to Linux User &
Developer magazine for this link. ]
“As an election looms in the UK, copyright,
intellectual property and Open Source, are making an appearance on
the political stage, both at home and internationally.“The government has been forced to make a number of significant
changes to Lord Mandelson’s much-criticised Digital Economy
Bill. In response to a petition, the Prime Minister has dropped
Mandelson’s plans for a controversial ‘three
strikes’ rule forcing ISPs to permanently disconnect those
repeatedly accused of illegal file sharing by copyright
holders.“Amongst a long list of grievances with the proposed bill,
critics had pointed out the potential human rights implications of
cutting-off households, particularly school children, from the
Internet, based on the behaviour of one individual using a shared
connection. However, in a statement on the Number 10 website, the
government did not rule out forcing ISPs to enforce bandwidth
restrictions, download limits and temporary account suspensions
onto customers accused of breeching copyright.”