tajasel.org http://tajasel.org Not just another WordPress weblog Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:05:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Appeals and Defence under the Digital Economy Bill http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/appeals-and-defence-under-the-digital-economy-bill/ http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/appeals-and-defence-under-the-digital-economy-bill/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:05:36 +0000 tajasel http://tajasel.org/?p=92 ORG has learnt that those wishing to appeal disconnection will have to pay for their trial, and as they are effectively guilty until proven innocent by the appeal, legal aid will not be available. In addition, innocence will not be a defence: if you hold an account for an Internet connection, you are responsible for any infringing activities occurring on that account, even if you didn’t do it yourself.

This means that as well as the everyday consumer, businesses and educational institutions will be responsible for activities of subscribers. Several official bodies, including the FSB and JANET (the network to which all educational and research institutions are connected), have asked the Government what they’re going to do about this but the response so far seems to be that as you can block copyright infringing activities, any subscriber neglecting to do so will be responsible for the actions of their users: in other words, “use a firewall”.

We still believe that this Bill fails to address the actual problem, and public confidence in the justice system will continue to fail. Please: write to your MP, and as ever, if you need any help with doing so, contact me.

]]> http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/appeals-and-defence-under-the-digital-economy-bill/feed/ 0 How To Talk To Your MP: Aftermath http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/how-to-talk-to-your-mp-aftermath/ http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/how-to-talk-to-your-mp-aftermath/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:39:27 +0000 tajasel http://tajasel.org/?p=82 With the How To Talk To Your MP events over, it’s possibly time for a look back over what happened: as Jim mentioned over on the ORG blog, it was mostly very useful: we think that we managed to get all our points across and that everyone who still had unanswered questions left with a better understanding of the Bill and what they could do about it.

These events came about after we realised that some people talking to their MPs weren’t getting anywhere because they were pushing against the copyright infringement side of the Bill, and we wanted to explain that they’d be better off fighting the due process side of the argument: that is, that disconnecting people without fair trial and allowing the secretary of business to amend copyright law as he saw fit was disproportionate and unfair.

]]> http://tajasel.org/2010/02/02/how-to-talk-to-your-mp-aftermath/feed/ 0 Digital Economy Bill: How To Talk To Your MP http://tajasel.org/2010/01/16/how-to-talk-to-your-mp/ http://tajasel.org/2010/01/16/how-to-talk-to-your-mp/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:49:29 +0000 tajasel http://tajasel.org/wordpress/?p=1 Until I get to actually writing new content, this is what I’ve been up to over the last couple of weeks at work. Consider registering if you’re interested, pass on the details to others even if you’re not, and if you’ve missed what this is all about, take a look at my previous posts on the subject.

Would you like to gain the confidence to talk and write to your MP, or rehearse talking to your MP one on one? We can help with this, and more: find out what MPs will ask you, learn how to write to your MP and get a response and meet other people campaigning against disconnection without trial in the Digital Economy Bill.

We believe that a lot of people don’t realise how easy it is to book an appointment to speak to their MP in person, or that doing this is the most effective way of ensuring Parliament knows and understands how unpopular the Digital Economy Bill really is.

We are running several short sessions in which you can try out talking to someone roleplaying the position of an MP and learn how to get your points across in a way that an MP will understand.

We have four events confirmed:
January 23rd in Manchester
January 24th in Edinburgh
January 30th in London

The fourth event will take place in Sheffield on January 27th as part of the Sheffield GeekUp unconference and there will be a choice of two sessions available: to register, see http://undeb-org.eventbrite.com.

All events are free, but booking is *essential* due to limited places. We hope to see you there.

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