tedster - 3:11 am on Apr 12, 2010 (gmt 0)

A draconian Internet censorship bill that has been long looming on the horizon finally passed the house of commons in the UK yesterday, legislating for government powers to restrict and filter any website that is deemed to be undesirable for public consumption... The Digital Economy Bill will also see users' broadband access cut off indefinitely, in addition to a fine of up to £50,000 without evidence or trial, if they download copyrighted music and films... The legislation would impose a duty on ISPs to effectively spy on all their customers by keeping records of the websites they have visited and the material they have downloaded. ISPs who refuse to cooperate could be fined £250,000. [globalresearch.ca...]

Currently in Britain, any interception of a communication requires a warrant. This bill now returns to the House of Lords where it originated, and if it passes, those warrants will just be a faint memory.

And it's not just the UK that is working to stomp out free use of the Internet. Finland, Denmark, Germany and other countries in Europe have all proposed repressive actions such as those used in Iran, Syria and China. And the US has similar machinations in the works as well - all detailed in the article.