d3damon-istockphoto-com-copyright-
16 February 2017Copyright

UK copyright bill could make people ‘vulnerable to blackmail’

A UK-based digital campaigning organisation has said that the proposed Digital Economy Bill 2016-17 could leave UK citizens “vulnerable to blackmail”.

The bill seeks to introduce maximum ten-year prison sentences for commercial-scale online piracy. The current maximum is two years.

Open Rights Group claimed on Tuesday, February 14 that the proposed changes could be “misused” by companies which send “threatening letters” about copyright infringement.

These letters include details accusing the recipient of “downloading files illegally” and demanding that they pay hundreds of pounds or be taken to court, said the group.

In April last year, WIPR’s sister site  TBO reported that the UK Intellectual Property Office confirmed it would introduce a maximum ten-year sentence for those guilty of engaging in online piracy.

The bill is designed to protect IP in electronic communications and provide restricted access to online pornography.

Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, claimed that the changes to penalties could cause major issues.

“Unscrupulous companies will seize on these proposals and use them to exploit people into paying huge fines for online infringements that they may not have committed,” he said.

Killock added: “The government needs to tighten up these proposals so that only those guilty of serious commercial copyright infringements receive prison sentences.”

The group has asked the government to amend the bill to ensure that prison sentences are only available for serious online copyright infringement.

Currently, the bill’s “loose” wording means that it could be interpreted as saying that prison sentences will be imposed for minor infringements such as file sharing, claimed the Open Rights Group.

According to the group, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has criticised “unscrupulous solicitors and companies acting on behalf of copyright owners” who take part in such “pay up or else schemes”.

The CAB advised people who receive the letters to seek legal advice instead of paying the requested fines.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Copyright
7 March 2017   The UK Intellectual Property Office has responded to a UK-based digital campaign organisation’s calls to change the Digital Economy Bill 2016-17.