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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

Yes, my Lords. However, I think that we are letting ourselves in for a situation a few years down the road in which a large number of our young people will face unpleasant levels of fines or court cases. To do that without retaining in some way a control on the level of punishment meted out to these people is unwise. Under the Bill, this is entirely in the control of the copyright owners. We have tens of thousands of these cases at the moment, so there is no reason why we should not have hundreds of thousands of cases under this Bill. If the amounts requested are on the scale that these same people have asked for in the United States, we are in for a very nasty time. The Government will have failed in their duty to their citizens if they do not keep to themselves a mechanism for making sure that at least the initial fine or punishment is within bounds. Ultimately, if this is what the Government want to do, I shall not oppose it further. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 124A withdrawn. Amendment 125 not moved. Amendment 125A Moved by