The Digital Economy Act was rushed through parliament back in April ahead of the election with 10% of the normal debating time that a bill of that size should get. Why? So Lord Mandelson, our unelected then Business Secretary, could appease his friends in the recording industry by introducing draconian laws that could see internet connections cuts and websites blocked without trial, possibly signalling the end of free wi-fi. Learn more in this presentation from LBi, Europe's number one marketing and technology agency.

1. # DEBill: The Corporate Conspiracy of Copyright Richard Astley

4. Copyright law is for content distributors But copyright law is NOT for content creators #DEBill is meant to “protect creative industries”

6. The corporatisation of the “music” industry

12. Who will stand up for old media corporations against the internet? Your friends and mine, HM Government of course!

13. The Digital Britain Report

15. “ Until the past week Mandelson had shown little personal interest in the Digital Britain agenda. Suddenly Peter returned from holiday and effectively issued this edict that the regulation needs to be tougher.” Whitehall Source The Times , August 16 2009

17. This lead to protest …

19. “ [DEBill] would discourage innovation, impose unnecessary costs, [and potentially unsettle] the careful balance of responsibilities for enabling market change … This clause is so wide that it could put at risk legitimate consumer use of current technology as well as future developments ... The industry as a whole had hoped that the outcome of Digital Britain would be a clear, workable set of principles by which the industry could operate. On the contrary, clause 17 creates uncertainty for consumers and businesses and puts at risk the UK's leading position in a digital Europe. We urge you to remove clause 17 from the bill." Letter to Parliament from Google, Yahoo!, Facebook and eBay December 2009

21. "Because public institutions often provide internet access to hundreds or thousands of individual users, the complexity of our position in relation to copyright infringements must be taken into consideration. If this is not done, a public institution such as a library, school or university's internet connection as a whole could be jeopardised, resulting in loss of internet access to large sections of the public, particularly the 15 million citizens without an internet connection at home." Letter to Parliament from British Library, University of London, Imperial War Museum February 2010

23. “ The digital economy bill is a highly controversial bill. Many of us believe that it threatens to severely infringe fundamental human rights, by allowing the disconnection of internet accounts for alleged copyright infringement, and also by new 'website blocking' laws that could result in new ways to suppress free speech and legitimate activity. There are also dangers to business, through restrictions on provision on open wi-fi networks, that could damage our economy. But our worry today is that none of this will be properly debated by parliament. Democracy and accountability will be sidestepped if this bill is rushed through and amended without debate during the so-called 'wash-up' process. The thousands of people we know to be contacting their MPs with concerns will find their faith in politicians even further undermined.” Letter to Parliament from Billy Bragg, Caroline Lucas MEP, TalkTalk, Open Rights & others March 2010

25. So what happens next?

27. www.openrights.org

28. Thank you … Now go and sign the petition & tell your friends.