An alternative point of view on The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013

Justin Leighton suggested I point you to this post on The Register for an alternative point of view on The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.  Full article here.

Everything you wanted to know about the Instagram Act, but were afraid to ask

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Analysis The UK has passed legislation to permit the mass use of copyright-protected material without the owner’s permission. This applies to any copyrighted work – not just images – where identifying information is missing.

The specifics aren’t yet known – they’ll come later in the year, in the form of secondary legislation called a “statutory instrument”*.

Thousands of statutory instruments are passed every year, and allow Parliament to approve or reject changes without having to pass a new Act. But some of these instruments can be used to make major changes to the primary legislation – such as their parent Act – with or without Parliamentary scrutiny. These instruments, known as Henry VIII clauses**, are frowned upon by constitutional experts.

Every day, more creative works are uploaded to the internet than were produced in the entire history of mankind’s analogue creativity, so this is a very live issue for billions of internet users. It significantly affects your digital rights and extends the power of ministers over UK citizens’ property.