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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. It is interesting that we had his velvet glove when he talked of a graded response, but now we get the mailed fist of the £250,000 maximum penalty. It reminded me of a Home Office debate about the deterrent effect of a £250,000 fine. To my ears, it sounds wholly disproportionate. We will take away the Minister’s hard-line rhetoric and consider it carefully. It seems out of kilter with the aim of creating a scheme that is acceptable across a disparate industry, including to ISPs and copyright owners, and that builds consensus, certainly within the code. This extremely heavy penalty will not induce good behaviour; indeed, I suspect that it may induce bad behaviour. Time will tell. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 197A withdrawn. Amendment 198 not moved. Clause 14 agreed. Clause 15 : Sharing of costs Amendment 199 Clause 15 : Sharing of costs Amendment 199 Moved by