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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

The list of measures in Clause 10(4) is intended to be an illustrative list of the sorts of technical measures that might be helpful in tackling online copyright infringement. The paragraph referred to in this amendment is meant to refer to the possibility of blocking access to particular types of traffic. I stress that it is certainly not to look at the contents of any of the subscriber’s traffic or to change the contents in any way. The amendment would simply prevent certain types of traffic—in this instance, those most likely to be carrying infringing peer-to-peer material—from being accessed. We know that you can block access to particular sites; it is certainly technically feasible. It may be worth my making the more general point to my noble friends Lord Whitty and Lord Maxton and the noble Earl, Lord Erroll, that any technical obligations imposed under the Bill would have to be operated in a way that was consistent with existing legislation, including the Data Protection Act and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act; so anything that would not be possible under those Acts will equally not be possible as a result of the Bill.