Human Rights Committee Expresses Concerns Over The UK Digital Economy Bill

The Joint Committee On Human Rights is an organisation which is appointed by both the House of Commons and House of Lords to consider matters related to human rights in the UK.? They have recently expressed concerns over the new digital economy bill which the government intends to set up as it would mean some broadband users are disconnected from the internet. The bill, which is intended to stop the massive amounts of piracy which takes place via the internet, would disconnect a whole household from the internet if any evidence of piracy was found from their connection. The bill has come under a lot of criticism with the latest complaints from the human rights committee being some of the strongest.

The committee has criticised the lack of precise detail included in the bill in its report:

?Because of the lack of detail on the face of the Bill and the limited foundation for justification provided for the breadth of these proposed powers, we acknowledge the concerns about the potential for these powers to be applied in a disproportionate manner which could lead to a breach of internet users? rights to respect for correspondence and freedom of expression.?

The JCHR has called for the government to provide much more justification in its proposals. It especially focuses on technical measures such as what the minimum criteria for imposing disconnection would be and whether people could seek an alternative ISP once they have been disconnected.

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