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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, we now come to one of the most controversial parts of this Bill, notwithstanding the length of time that has been taken on Clauses 1 to 3. I am moving Amendment 33 and, looking at the Marshalled List, we get to Amendment 214 before we emerge from the question of what we do about so-called illegal file-sharing. I am glad this amendment has been taken first, because it focuses on the most serious issue here: how do we balance the interests of the copyright owners who feel that downloading without payment is in reality theft of their asset, against the understandable belief by many users of the internet that all information on the internet is free? That is the balance that your Lordships will try to find over the next 188 amendments and through Clauses 4 to 17. The particular problem this amendment attempts to deal with is the current position with regard to what is happening on behalf of copyright holders and their firms of solicitors in relation to reports of illegal file-sharing. We have all had letters from people who have been subject to this. One of the letters that many of your Lordships will have received contains the sentence that encapsulates the problem: "nobody should have to endure what we have endured—no warnings, our homes searched and an endless involvement with the court system". What appears to be happening at the moment is that many firms of solicitors, when they have an allegation of illegal file-sharing, demand large payments from people with the allegation that they will take them to court unless they pay up. People are put in the invidious position of either having to incur huge legal costs to defend their position or to pay the compensation that the firm of solicitors is asking for. There is a technical procedure which is now referred to as the Norwich pharmacal order, under which information can be obtained by the copyright holders with names and addresses of customers who allegedly have been engaging in illegal file-sharing. That has increased the opportunity for firms of solicitors to indulge in the practice that they are understandably using in order to protect the rights of the copyright owners. This is a very straightforward amendment, which requires anyone who is going to take action under the new regime against subscribers for online copyright infringement to use the process set out in the relevant sections of the Communications Act, except in cases of actual or likely extreme prejudice. This is a graduated response, rather than as now being able to use solicitors as a first step to deal with alleged file-sharing. I beg to move.