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Proceeding contribution from Lord Lucas (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 20 January 2010. It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bill on Digital Economy Bill [HL].


Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, we have been here before, but I do not feel that I have had an adequate answer. The noble Lord talks in generalities, referring to programs out there which will do these things. But will they work? In the event of being hauled in front of a tribunal, will the fact that I have bought XY and Z program, installed it and used it, be adequate to protect me against an allegation that I have downloaded or someone has used my network to download? We really ought to provide our citizens with certainty in this matter. They ought to know what they have to do to avoid infringing. I think that it ought to be a duty of Ofcom to provide citizens with that information. It is not really asking a great deal. Unless this certainty is provided, Ofcom will end up paying a great deal more in the costs of arguing this endlessly in the tribunal than it would if it had taken the trouble to audit a few bits of software upfront. I beg to move.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
716 c1030 
Session
2009-10
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Access Codes of practice Appeals Broadcasting Costs Competition Computer networks Copyright Communication Fees and charges ICT Internet Ofcom Tribunals Subscriptions Internet service providers
Legislation
Digital Economy Bill (HL) 2009-10
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk