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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I am feeling rather confused by all this. It seems that, quite rightly, we are trying to bring about a system that does not penalise the subscriber. That might be me or it might be any other Member. If I receive a letter, I will probably say, "Fine, I have committed an offence. I am not going to carry on". However, there must be a group of hard-faced, cynical people who, when they receive that first letter, knowing that they have already committed an offence, will say, "It is going to be another nine months to a year before my computer or internet service is finally switched off"—or decreased in speed or whatever the technical obligation is. If I cannot record or download every piece of music that I shall want to listen to for the rest of my life in those 12 months, then I am not very technically bright. I could then either put them all on to discs or, more particularly in the modern world, put them on to a site using cloud technology somewhere out there. Then, just before the Government or Ofcom impose this order on me, I say, "Oh, I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean it and I won’t do it again", by which time I shall have all the material I want. It will be up there somewhere in the clouds, and what will the Government be able to do about it? The answer is: very little.