Not in my name
Well. Done and dusted. A bad bill passed, full of, I hope, good intentions. The good intentions are to protect the authors, musicians, creatives and the like. I guess they are to protect me, in a way - I write software, and my wares should be protected.
Basta. I haven't asked for that. I don't want that.
Fair use, or the intellectual property in a fast changing world
What I do want, is to know what is fair use in modern copyright. Your bill doesn't touch that, with a purpose. If it comes to court, a well financed vs unwashed opponent in an unprepared court then resistance is futile. Fair play, probably it is impossible for any court to be prepared on this topic.
The fact is the current intellectual property definitions don't take into account the near zero costs of reproduction and sharing and the minimal costs of original content production. They don't take into account the dynamics of modern products. They don't take into account the age of cornucopia machines. And change is accelerating. We are just at the beginning of it.
Peacock politics
So our wise honourable members decided to screw up. Intentionally. It is easier for a government to be seen to do something, rather than to actually solve the core problems. It is easy to brag, it is harder to think something through.
But they were caught out. All three majour parties. The conservatives just winged, bent and then decided to whip. The Liberal Democrats were swinging with the wind. The Labour whipped compliance with the government. Well, a bit unfair, the only real thoughtful opposition to the bill, and proper arguments were coming from backbenchers - mostly labour and a few conservatives.
The system stinks
As if nobody knew beforehand. The current parliament opened the eyes of many people, and unfortunately it continues to do so now. The practice of party whips is undemocratic. Regardless of what you politicos think, MPs are elected personally, with the help of a party. The individual MP has the democratic mandate, not any single party. Every vote in parliament should be a free vote. And if we don't like you, we should be able to call you back.
The fact that a majority is incompetent in a particular area like IP law is not a surprise. The fact that an MP is scared to exercise their individual conscious vote came as a surprise to many. The fact that only a third of MPs bothered to turn out to vote on a controversial bill angers most.
Politicos - you FAIL
Most of you do. Some, especially the backbenchers with a spine and principles at least you give hope. Democracy is bad. It is inefficient, unfair, unjust. The last few years pour strength in that argument. Unfortunately it is the best we know how.
