Together we raised over £20,000 to pay for adverts urging a real debate on the Digital Economy Bill.

Our ads are in today’s Guardian (Page 3), the Times (page 16) and hundreds of websites.

Here’s a preview of the ad:

…and here’s a picture of the ads in the papers:

Adverts for the Digital Economy Bill campaign

Thanks again everyone!

Time is running out to stop the Digital Economy Bill being rushed through Parliament without proper debate.

Just click here to call your MP and let them know why it’s so important not to rush the bill into law.

How did it go?

When you’ve made the call let us know in comments how it went. Did you get through to your MP? Was the line engaged (there are lots of us trying to get through)? Did your MP tell you that they’d call for a proper debate?

Over the last week over 18,000 of us have written to our MPs urging them not to allow the Digital Economy Bill to be rushed through Parliament without a proper debate.

If you’ve received a response from your MP please post it below so other 38 Degrees members can have a look, help you reply or just leave a comment.

If you haven’t written to your MP yet you can email them here.

Thanks!

Over the last week over 18,000 of us  have written to their MPs urging the Government not to rush the bill into law without a democratic debate.

There have been so many emails we can’t reply to them all so please post any replies you get from your MP here so other 38 Degrees members can see them, comment and help you reply.

Most common questions
We asked Jim Killock, Executive Director of Open Rights Group, to list put together some responses to the most common points MPs are raising. Here they are:

Only persistent offenders will be disconnected
Firstly, this is expected to mean after 50 infringements, although the Bill does not say. The retail value of a song can now be as low as 35p on emusic – so the retail value of the infringements needed to qualify for disconnection could be less than £18.

Furthermore, not only an infringer, but their family, would be disconnected. They would almost certainly be innocent.

There will be lots of tests to make sure this is appropriate
Disconnection is never appropriate, ever. Disconnection – even for a repeat offender – is a serious infringement of their ability to exercise freedom of expression and association and their right to work and an education.

Constraining these implies a very serious, for instance, imprisonable offence. Yet copyright infringement remains a civil offence, with lower standards of evidence, and with civil punishments, that is, fines.

Nobody has explained at any point why a civil wrong should be punished, without the need for a trial, by a punishment as intrusive as disconnection

People can just move to another Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Such points are governed by as yet unwritten codes. There is nothing in the Bill to suggest this.

There will be a full debate before any of this happens, in the next Parliament
The measures will be introduced by Statutory Instrument. Such debates are short, limited, and do not require line by line scrutiny. MPs will be lucky if the SIs will be amendable. They certainly do not invoke national democratic debate and press attention. That debate is needed before introducing a measure like this.

What did your MP reply? Let us know here and crowdsource help replying.

If they didn’t, or you haven’t written to your MP opposing rushing the DEB into law just click here to write to your MP now.

In the last 48 hours 38 Degrees members have sent an avalanche of 10,000 to their MPs voicing widespread concern about the Digital Economy Bill.  Why are so many of us so concerned that we’re moved to take action?

This week politicians said that those opposing the bill are “web anarchists”. This is a convenient way for them to avoid the many concerns the public has about this bill. We’re concerned that the government is pushing a complex bill through without addressing our legitimate concerns.

The government is planning to use a special ”fast track” process designed for the weeks before a election to pass urgent and uncontroversial measures, to force thorough these dubious new powers. This process is problematic at the best of times,  because it removes democratic checks. For our members the idea that you’d strip down the scrutiny and debate over such a complex bill that gives unprecedented new powers to the Government is deeply worrying.

The bill contains a wish list of new powers that would (amongst many things) give the government power to disconnect millions of people, block websites, create the potential for back-door censorship and spell the death of open WiFi. Even  Schools and libraries could see their internet cut off if people infringe any copyright.

One group is very keen on it though, the music industry. Early this month it was uncovered that parts of the bill have been copied word for word from a draft “suggestion” written by the music industry lobbyist group, the BPI.  In a leaked memo a few days ago the same lobbyists admitted the only way to get the bill through would be to rush it through without a real parliamentary debate.

Those opposing the bill are a growing and powerful movement of companies, libraries, consumer groups and of course us, the public. Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Virgin, Orange, eBay and BT all came together earlier this month to voice their concern about this bill.

We’ve teamed up with Open Rights Group (ORG) to oppose the bill. As Jim Killock, ORG’s Executive Director says:

“At the fag end of this Parliament, disastrous laws to disconnect families from the internet and introduce web censorship powers that we haven’t even seen, could get passed into law without proper debate.

Serious laws, that would disrupt people’s freedom of speech and their daily lives, and potentially create new web censorship powers, deserve proper scrutiny and debate. Anything less is undemocratic and unaccountable, not to mention deeply irresponsible.

That is why 38 Degrees is joining the Open Rights Groups’ call for a proper open debate on this Bill. Please write to your MP now to demand that this Bill is properly debated.”

The Government is right to attempt to tackle the many issues surrounding the internet. But to rush these complex new measures through Parliament is wrong. To think that they could rush them through before a general election without anyone noticing is naïve. This law needs a real debate, it needs parliamentary scrutiny. That’s why ten thousand of us have written to our MPs.

If you haven’t done so already now is the time to write to your MP and tell them why we oppose the Digital Economy Bill: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/digital-economy-bill