I wrote a letter to my local MP, Labour’s Stephen McCabe, using the excellent 38 Degrees website. It’s about the Digital Economy Bill, which I’m sure you’ve heard about, and which is in danger of being passed into law without scrutiny.
It’s a bad bill, and even those who are trying to get it passed without debate don’t seem to fully understand the sinister and damaging repercussions of what they are trying to have enacted.
This excellent blog post is about the best I’ve read on the subject, so that’s probably a great place to start – and below is a copy of the letter I just sent.
Dear Mr McCabe,
No doubt you’ve been contacted many times about the Digital Economy Bill. This is my third letter to you, and I am still awaiting a response.
I am Reader in Music Industries Innovation at Birmingham City University, and I deal extensively with musicians, music entrepreneurs and music businesses in general – as well as music archivists, music workers in many different industries (for example, music therapy and music education) and music technologists.
There are so many compelling reasons that this bill will be bad for consumers, bad for business, bad for music as an art form, and bad for music as part of our culture and heritage – let alone the flaws in the bill’s understanding of the technology.
It is clear to me and to the vast majority of the people I work with on a day-to-day basis that the bill only stands to benefit multi-national corporations and not British citizens, music workers, creative industries or the knowledge economy. In fact, the Digital Economy Bill is far more likely to be detrimental to those same multi-national corporations and lobbying interests like the BPI, despite what they may think, but their urgency to get this bill passed without debate is fuelled by the same misconceptions and protectionist, anti-consumer behaviour that has been the hallmark of the last 15 years of the entertainment industry.
In short – it is bad legislation. It is harmful to free speech, impedes access to education, knowledge and culture, aims to artificially prop up businesses that simply refuse to adapt to contemporary shifts in the media environment and prioritises music as commerce over music as culture – the very opposite of what copyright is intended to propagate.
I am writing now that Harriet Harman MP has announced that the Bill is definitely going to receive a second reading on Tuesday April 6, widely expected to be the day an election is called.
On Thursday, Harriet Harman gave no assurance that controversial parts of the Bill would not be rushed through in 90 minutes, despite concerns being raised by members from both sides of the House.
Please do not underestimate the strength of feeling on this issue. Over 17,000 letters have been sent to MPs in the last week – yet the Government still seems intent on forcing the bill through Parliament without allowing a real debate about the issues.
People like me, who are concerned about this issue, will be looking to see who has done everything they can to make sure this Bill is not crashed through on the last day before an election.
I am a long-time Labour supporter*. This is a deal-breaker for me and for many like me. I wish to be perfectly clear about this: my continued support and my vote in the upcoming election rests entirely upon this issue. Are you the sort of politician that stands up for its constituents, for culture and for democracy, or are you the sort of politician that will hurry through a bill without scrutiny at the behest of powerful and monied corporate lobbyists?
I would very much appreciate it if you could do everything you can to raise this issue with ministers and party managers to make sure that these provisions receive proper debate and scrutiny in a new Parliament.
I look forward to your prompt and reassuring response.
Andrew Dubber
If you’re in the UK, please take 5 minutes to write to your MP. You don’t need to go into the detail I’ve gone into – and there’s even a template letter already there for you when you click on this link to 38 Degrees.
*Actually, it’s probably a bit of a stretch to say I’m a long time Labour supporter. The political party I would most like to vote for doesn’t really exist. The closest I’ve ever seen is the 1999 New Zealand fifth Labour Government coalition with the Alliance Party and the Green Party.
UPDATE: Just received a response from Steve McCabe via email. It reads:
Dear Mr Dubber
I am aware of your emails as well as many others from other constituents on this issue. I tend to reply to people in terms of priority and in terms of the order in which I receive their communication. Obviously not everyone in my constituency has email and so if I simply spent my time responding to emails and ignoring written communications I’d be giving some constituents a better service than others. I receive hundreds of emails each day and I appreciate that it takes you a very short time to compose and send yours but I would ask you to consider how long it takes me to read and respond to all those I receive.
I note your comments on the Digital Economy Bill and I would have liked to have sent you a slightly more considered response but since you are very anxious to receive a reply I hope you’ll accept this as a holding reply. I am aware that the Bill is proposed to receive a Second Reading, that of course doesn’t mean that it will be granted a second reading, nor does it mean that it will be passed as legislation given the proximity to the General Election. There is a good argument for this Bill receiving a second reading debate as that would provide an opportunity for the views of the many competing interests on this matter to be heard and for parliament to consider the myths and realities in relation to this legislation. That would allow any future legislation on this issue to start from a stronger platform than is currently the case.
I have to confess I haven’t yet had a chance to study the Bill in detail as you appear to have done but of course I will consider it very carefully before it comes before the House and I will take your concerns into account.
Best wishes
Steve McCabe
To which I replied:
Thanks very much. I appreciate the response.
While it may have taken me a relatively short time (just shy of an hour) to compose my letter to you, my views are ones I have come to over a long period of study and analysis of the industry and the technology, and I do not lobby my local representative lightly nor with the intention of taking up your time just for the sake of it.
So… given that you have not yet read the bill in detail – and in the interests of brevity (and because I cannot tell from your response) does this mean that you will actively press for time to read, analyse and debate this important piece of legislation before it is passed?
Just a yes or no will be fine.
Thanks again for your time.
Andrew Dubber
Tagged: Digital Economy Bill, Law, Politics