Leaked internet blocking code comes under fire

Online privacy campaigners have sharply criticised government plans to draw up a voluntary internet blocking scheme for internet service providers.

Communications minister Ed Vaizey met with representatives from internet service providers and copyright holders last week. Rights holders included representatives from the Premier League, the Publishers Association and the Motion Picture Association.

Documents sent to blogger James Firth following the meeting appear to indicate support for a court-based copyright enforcement scheme, which would seek to get ISPs to blacklist websites hosting right-infringing material.

The documents, which purportedly come from the Rightsholder Group, state that, while the court-based body that would rule over complaints had to gather evidence, it would also need the power to act quickly enough to deal with live events.

That could allow the Premier League to block access to live streams of its football matches, an increasingly common way for fans to catch the action.

The proposals pay scant attention to the practicalities of blocking websites, warned Peter Bradwell, a campaigner for the Open Rights Group.

“The proposal, if genuine, adds up to a dangerous revocation of the rule of law where lobby groups would decide what you are allowed to see and read,” he said.

Consumer Focus, a lobby group that attended the meeting hosted by Vaizey, has argued that blocking websites – especially in the case of streamed football matches – would be a disproportionate response.

“We do not believe website blocking should be seriously considered as an option if copyright owners have not licensed their content to meet consumer demand through new digital platforms,” it said in a statement prepared for last week’s meeting.