The United Kingdom parliament has passed the Digital Economy Bill, an extensive and controversial piece of legislation, by a vote of 189 to 47. The legislation encompasses online copyright infringement, Internet piracy, regulation of TV and radio, the classification of video games, regulations over ISPs, and a hodgepodge of other digital topics.
The bill, which you can read in its entirety here, is rather complicated and extensive, encompassing over 40 different sections covering online and digital media. Its goal is to clamp down on Internet piracy and illegal file-sharing, although its many critics believe that it is an overreaching piece of legislation. Its potential impact on public Wi-Fi and its harsh penalties for illegal file-sharers have been hotly debated.
The bill passed by a vote of 189 to 47 in a “wash-up” process, which limited the amount of debate MPs took on the bill.
Until the bill is actually utilized in the real world, it’s tough to tell what its impact will be. Protests have already begun on Twitter though, centered around the #Debill hashtag.
Have you been following the Digital Economy Bill? If so, what do you think of it? Let us know in the comments.
Tags: Digital Economy Bill, legislation, parliament, uk, United Kingdom
So what do you think about stimulus bill that is going to get pass.?
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
$1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.
$400 million for research into global warming.
$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.
$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.
$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.
$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
$2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc. The $2,25 billion is about equal to the National Park Service’s entire annual budget. The Washington Times reports it is a threefold increase over what was originally proposed for parks in the stimulus bill. Obey is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
$335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The bill allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money could appear to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities community groups in the last election cycle.
$44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department.
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
$32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste.
$87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.
$53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.
$20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.
$10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.
$20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.
Remember, this economic stimulus bill is supposed to be used as a catalyst to re-start our economy. Period.
Now how about those earmarks…?
$2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Dept. of Energy defunded last year because the project was inefficient
$650 million for the digital television (DTV) converter coupon program
$88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (ship)
$448 million for constructing the Dept. of Homeland Security HQ
$248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters
$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees
$400 million for the CDC to screen and prevent STD’s
$1.4 billion for a rural waste disposal programs
$125 million for the Washington, D.C. sewer system
$150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
$1 billion for the 2010 Census, projected cost overrun of $3 billion
$75 million for “smoking cessation activities”
$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges
$75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI
$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction
$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River
$10 million to inspect canals in urban areas
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings
$500 million for state and local fire stations
$650 million for wildland fire management on Forest Service lands
$150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
$1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs
$88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service
$412 million for CDC buildings and property
$500 million for building and repairing NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
$160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service
$5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the VA “National Cemete
All that and not a penny for little ol’ me.
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I am reporting you to his holiness, the Barack. For it is written, he that questions him shall be doomed to a life of higher taxes, more government intrusion and bleak prospects. Those that do not oppose him shall receive money from those that work.
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i believe the term everyone is using is ‘pork’
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Thanks…goes to show they need a good colon cleansing….and we knew it…it is a shame the ones that voted them in don’t know it.
GOP leaders in the House on Monday put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the stimulus bill. Some of the measures include:
• $650 million for the digital television (DTV) converter box coupon program.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $1 billion for the 2010 census.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters. Read the list of ‘wasteful’ items
The $819 billion bill that passed in the House last week is two-thirds spending and one-third tax cuts.
Much of the $550 billion in spending is divided among these areas: $142 billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16 billion for science and technology and $13 billion for housing.
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One change already made in the Senate version is the addition of $71 billion to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was intended to place a tax on the wealthy but now hits many middle-class families.
The Senate bill also adds a $300 payment to seniors, disabled people and others who can’t work, and suspends taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits
Ok..whoever said this is going to create jobs needs to get a life. I can think of TONS of things to do with this money to create jobs…REAL JOBS that start with helping the people of America and not with furnishing homeland security , expanded food stamps…(I see people on food stamps using their debit cards for Red Lobster and Macaroni Grill and feeding a family of 10 instead of taking that money and buying food to feed that family for a week instead of one night! 90 percent of this is CRAP
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It no longer matters what you and I think. President Hussein and the democrats now have total power to pass everything they could not get through before.
For the next 4 years, they are the kings and nobles, and we are the peasants, subject to their whims.
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Well that was depressing…. Is it too early in the morning to start shooting tequila? Is there an earmark for that?
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ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.
So come on democRATS…lets hear from you. Do you really support this bill? If so….tell us why. And justify if you will, all the pork spending.
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It’s a start.
But I heard it wont pass as republicans refuse to pass it.
People we haven’t even hit bottom yet.
It’s like Alice in Wonderland…keep falling and falling and falling…some day we will hit bottom and when we do…man is it gonna be dark down there.
This stuff is just peanuts…but Obama is doing what he promised and in a week or two has done more for America than Bush did in two years!
Life moving too fast for some of you?
At least look at the bright side…it’s INCENTIVE, it gets lazy asses off their duffs and DOING SOMETHING other than sitting in Y/A and whining….or at least that should be the AIM.
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I tried to warn everyone. I said there would be an orgy of spending if the idiots gave total power to the Socialists but got thumbed down and reported too many times to count for saying it.
Sometimes it sucks to be right.
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the president is ging to faces alot of challege inside the usa.the answer is. the usa administration and the pentagon is going to gived obama alot of hard time in each desition or ideas the have to do to faces the unitated stated, the pentagon make the 1ft desition. like everything. not only that (president bush) have a daddy the gived him the baby botler) president obama dosen’t have the same pull’s.
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change the people from the gabinet and administration becuases as long obama have the same people it will be a lick) inside the usa administration. what we call a (gabp)(court slack)
I started going through your points one by one. It got tiring. So I will just lump it all in.
The majority of the items have merit. They will create jobs, they will be a betterment for our country. They will get us on the right track to lessen our usage of foreign oil. These things should have been started years ago.
As far as the points for welfare, food stamps, foreclosures etc. they are for the people who need it due to the economic crisis. It doesn’t take a dummy to see that we cannot restart our economy with people who don’t have income or a place to live. Remember, people that don’t own a home don’t pay property taxes and we all know how our taxes are appropriated throughout the city, county and state.
As for the rest of it, it should be taken out and placed in another bill and see what will happen.
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This is a spending plan except for the Mass transit, the Roads construction because this is government job.
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