In the UK there’s possible new legislation, supported by the big copyright holders (the RIAA, MPAA etc) that would allow them to force ISPs to cut off anyone’s internet access if the copyright holders accuse the individual of three (3) copyright violations. That’s right, “accuse” not prove. Corry Doctorow’s article for the Guardian makes a bold claim that we hold them to the same standard.

From the article:

The internet is only that wire that delivers freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press in a single connection. It’s only
vital to the livelihood, social lives, health, civic engagement, education and leisure of hundreds of millions of people (and growing every day).

This trivial bit of kit is so unimportant that it’s only natural that we equip the companies that brought us Police Academy 11, Windows Vista, Milli Vanilli and Celebrity Dancing With the Stars with wire-cutters that allow them to disconnect anyone in the country on their own say-so, without proving a solitary act of wrongdoing.

But if that magic wire is indeed so trivial, they won’t mind if we hold them to the same standard, right?

Read the rest of the article here.