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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, not for the first time my noble friend Lord Lucas has raised an important point. I agree that the length of time a measure can be imposed needs to be clarified. As far as I can see, there is no restriction on the period of time a subscriber’s account might be suspended, apparently rendering the power at the extreme the equivalent of completely cutting him off. It is understandable that there might need to be some level of flexibility when assessing what length of time is effective, but there should still be some indication in the Bill of a maximum time. There is surely also the possibility that without a time limit the measure may fall foul of other legislation.