What will this all mean to us Linux users? I run Gentoo Linux. Its a 100 percent open source operating system that is fast, light weight and can cluster. It handles music recording applications much better due to its low overhead. What will this mean to our band? We only use the Internet for our releases for our fans that cant make our shows. We have no desire to get with a label. We have no desire to be owned. How will our British fans see our content? Will they be too scared to download our songs? How will they be able to tell if "Picture Me Dead" is not a labeled ban? How will they be able to tell that we want them to download our stuff and be apart of us on you-tube and other places? We don't need corporates to dictate to us how to do what we do. We live in an era where studio grade recording equipment is affordable to the masses. Is that what they really are scared of? Little bands cutting into their profits. Able to book venues and release content without the big guys getting any of the money. Eminem did it on his own. So can we. The Internet is our only source of advertisement. This law shrinks our market just that much more. Pretty soon we will have to ask permission from some governmental entity to do anything. The more government you have the less freedom you have because of all the laws it perpetuates. Vote out the incumbents and vote in people who will put our governments on a diet for God's sake.

The Bill is a continuation of the rapidly expanding fascism that constitutes politics in the UK. As a Briton living in Moscow, i'm not surprised that Mandeleson has the green light from his mates in the labour party to run roughshod over the "masses". Most of all i'm not surprised at the deafening silence from the house of lords, as the maniac continues to carve up any semblance of citizens rights. The UK is in danger of being swallowed up by the virus of political unaccountability, and for a nation who tiredly trumpets its democratic values, this is part of the continuing hypocrisy peddled to the public, who are, frankly, too thick to read the signs. The upcoming elections won't change a thing, as all 3 major parties are part of the same process. As a fulltime composer, this bill is alleged to be protecting my interests. It does anything but, instead being evidence of a labour government and record industry cabal. Contrary to popular opinion, we're not all desperate for a "record" deal, or stupid enough to be led into insidious machinery with the lure of "Cars, Women, and Riches." There are a lot of independent composers and writers who embrace new technologies and business models to reach their audiences, successfully, without having to pay a crippling tax to record producers and distributors. This bill is designed to crush us "indys" in favour of the corporates. This is another large nail in the coffin of citizens rights, enthusiastically endorsed by the entire british political system, and is part of a trend that will end in the replacement of near extinct democracy with societal fascism. I'll never go back, as i value my democratic rights, and Russia generously gives me that, for which i and my wonderful russian wife are grateful. Inciden tally, this bill is also aimed at crushing the opensource software movement. Take a closer look at the bill, and see the weight of monolithic software and hardware corporates pushing this from afar.

Well no suprise really in this bill, Labour are almost communist they have a new face and call it new Labour but the origins are still left wing clap trap. Labour have done more to erode democaray than any other party in the UK, they were quick to join the war on terror which quickly followed with the anti terror laws. These laws are really to beat down the average man in the street and use on little countries like Iceland. Labour showed no spine when the Iranians took out sailors a few years ago. @ Joseph the county is the UK and the people are British not English. Education is pretty good in the UK with many students coming to our colleges and Universities from overseas. We do not have peasants this is a pharse mainly to describe poor peoples from the old Soviet block, we have something far worse, un-educated people who live of the state and are no use to man or beast. We have 2 problems with UK goverment, 1) they still think we are some kind of power 2) they make up to the yanks far too much. Finally i hope the BNP will make good headway this coming election

This bill was the brain child of Lord Mandelson (commonly known in the UK as the "Dark Lord"), who was given a ministerial position despite being an unelected member of the House of Lords, rather than an elected member of the House of Commons. Funnily enough, the idea came to the Dark Lord after a lunch with a media mogul who had a vested interest to protect. Suspicious types might think that the media mogul brought a briefcase full of cash to the lunch date and left it behind. However, I am sure that despite the Dark Lord's three resignations from office following various scandals, all was above board this time. ;-) Quite apart from the lack of due process and other elements of the bill which would probably represent violations of human rights under the ECHR, one of the little gems is that the Dark Lord wanted the bill to allow him to take additional future unspecified powers without the inconvenient expedient of actually passing news laws through parliament - a sort of "Let me do anything I want " bill. Interesting ly, in order to avoid people using the excuse that someone else has used their Internet connection to download files in breach of the law, everyone will be required to adequately secure their Internet connections (i.e. encryption/authentic ation of their WLAN). I would bet that at least half of all broadband users in the UK would not have the technical knowledge to do this. It would be like holding me responsible for a burglary committed using tools stolen from my garden shed because I only had a simple lock on the shed.

The English is the only uneducated ignorant country in the west,well its peasants,and has been for centuries,Divide and rule has been the english strategey ,and it works effectively in britain,and we have our broadcasters and media ,elevated peasants that are servents to the english priveleged class,that feed its peasants with garbage all thier lives.P.S. And for the record Britain has more laws against the working man ,than any european country.They already are ,the most monitered people in europe.The digital bill ,just another law over its peasants in the country.P.S. Never seen any laws that is passed against the ruling and privelege class in the country ,they all protected by laws written by thier chums in govt ,or the chums write the laws for them to pass.

Another bill to quietly pass the same day as an election announcement then?!?