The Digital Economy bill is in its third/final reading in the House of Lords in Britain. This bill will enforce ISPs to block websites that have potentially copyright infringed material in their content. One problem with this: it will allow ISPs to block websites without consulting a judge. This will leave citizens unprotected in the case of incorrect accusations.

Many ISPs, academics, and other entities do not want this bill to be passed. Virgin Media, BT, Google, Facebook, and more have all written a letter to the Financial Times outlining the consequences of this bill. They say that this law "would have unintended consequences that far outweigh any benefits it could bring."

"Endorsing a policy that would encourage the blocking of websites by UK broadband providers or other internet companies is a very serious step for the UK to take. There are legal, technical and practical issues to reconcile before this can be considered a proportionate and necessary public policy option."

The letter also addressed how the House of Lords "rush[ed] through such a controversial proposal at the tail end of a parliament, without any kind of consultation with consumers or industry, [and that this] is very poor lawmaking."

The bill still has to be approved by the House of Commons (three readings, report stage and committee stage). There's a possibility that it won't make it.

Read the Out-Law.com's article on this issue here.