Web Giants Unite to Oppose UK Proposal

Web Giants Unite to Oppose UK Proposal

Google and several other IT connectivity giants are lobbying the U.K. government to drop a proposal that would allow the secretary of state to introduce new changes to copyright law. The proposal is part of Britain's Digital Economy bill, a comprehensive package of legislation that contains other controversial measures, including a requirement for broadband providers to track illegal file sharing and possibly suspend the accounts of repeat offenders.
Last week, IT company - Google along with IT services provider Yahoo, Facebook and eBay sent a letter to Peter Mandelson, first secretary of state and head of the U.K.'s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), asking the government to drop the 17th clause of the bill. The clause would give the secretary of state the power to amend Part 1 and Part 7 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 in order to stop copyright infringement online in light of changing technology.