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So it's bad. £50,000 fines if someone in your house is accused of filesharing. A duty on ISPs to spy on all their customers in case they find something that would help the record or film industry sue them (ISPs who refuse to cooperate can be fined £250,000).
But that's just for starters. The real meat is in the story we broke yesterday: Peter Mandelson, the unelected Business Secretary, would have to power to make up as manynew penalties and enforcement systems as he likes. And he says he's planning to appoint private militias financed by rightsholder groups who will have the power to kick you off the internet, spy on your use of the network, demand the removal of files or the blocking of websites, and Mandelson will have the power to invent any penalty, including jail time, for any transgression he deems you are guilty of. And of course, Mandelson's successor in the next government would also have this power.
What isn't in there? Anything about stimulating the actual digital economy. Nothing about ensuring that broadband is cheap, fast and neutral. Nothing about getting Britain's poorest connected to the net. Nothing about ensuring that copyright rules get out of the way of entrepreneurship and the freedom to create new things. Nothing to ensure that schoolkids get the best tools in the world to create with, and can freely use the publicly funded media -- BBC, Channel 4, BFI, Arts Council grantees -- to make new media and so grow up to turn Britain into a powerhouse of tech-savvy creators.
Lobby organisation The Open Rights Group is urging people to contact their MP to oppose the plans.Government lays out digital plans"This plan won't stop copyright infringement and with a simple accusation could see you and your family disconnected from the internet - unable to engage in everyday activities like shopping and socialising," it said.
The government will also introduce age ratings on all boxed video games aimed at children aged 12 or over.
There is, however, little detail in the bill on how the government will stimulate broadband infrastructure.
Draw The Line is David Gray's eighth studio album and finds him taking a leap forward from his previous incarnations, this album portrays Gray at the forefront and still a stand-out silhouette of the singer/songwriter generation, nearly ten years since his breakthrough White Ladder melted into the hearts of millions.
The lead single 'Fugitive' pounds in on a resonant drum beat and asks curiously '...is the answer none of the above?' simultaneously highlighting not only choice for the listener but also injecting a dose of what might be achievable. Change and possibility are themes recreated throughout the album but he never fails to keep the balance of reality, questioning mortality 'carnivals of silverfish waiting to dance upon our bones' in the musing title track and a relationship spiralling out of control in the pensive 'Harder'. The track raising questions in their scenario, pondering over the intensity of those lingering doubts we all have had at some point. Also, penultimate song 'Breathe' graciously builds as the song focuses on the confusion of losing your mind and wanting to jump from the ledge. It proposes that its audience takes a moment, steps back and takes its sentiment quite literally. Final track, the potent 'Full Steam', a duet with Annie Lennox is a rousing close to the album. It positions awareness and naivety on the same plate and points out that 'we all saw it coming but we still bought it', an anthemic track and narrative, stitched with feelings akin to our current western world worries and qualms.
The interesting thing about Draw The Line is that despite its robust and rugged nature, it doesn't feel like it dwells on struggle. We find highlights of life and love here and how we work through it by accepting that we all doubt ourselves sometimes. If you consider his rise to fame in such a short space of time, Gray is still intensely grounded, this eighth studio album is embedded with organic roots that have more stability than other similar artists that are often mentioned in the same vein. Draw The Line is lyrically tempestuous and abundant with soul and spirit. It may be an escape route for Gray but he also created a passionate, stormy new path to tread and follow in these fast changing times.

If your friend or partner left his or her email open, would you look? How about a journal? Have you ever peeked at something private? |
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