James Delahunty
28 Feb 2010 7:06
The UK's Digital Economy Bill (DEB) may have a negative effect on establishments that offer open Wi-Fi access to users. Libraries, Universities, Cafes and other small businesses will not be exempt from anti-piracy policies in the Digital Economy Bill, meaning that a small business offering WiFi might be warned and held responsible for copyright infringement of somebody using their WiFi access.
Lilian Edwards, professor of internet law at Sheffield University, said that the scenario as described by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) would effectively "outlaw open Wi-Fi for small businesses," while leaving the likes of Universities and public Libraries in an uncertain position.
"This is going to be a very unfortunate measure for small businesses, particularly in a recession, many of whom are using open free Wi-Fi very effectively as a way to get the punters in," Edwards said. "Even if they password protect, they then have two options — to pay someone like The Cloud to manage it for them, or take responsibility themselves for becoming an ISP effectively, and keep records for everyone they assign connections to, which is an impossible burden for a small cafe."
Lord Young, a minister at BIS, responded to concerns in an explanatory document. He said libraries could not be exempted because it would send the wrong message and could lead to "fake" organizations being setup, claiming an exemption and acting as a hub for copyright infringement.
In the case of Universities, he said that since these establishments already have strict policies with regard to copyright infringement on their networks, it would not be sensible to force them to abandon their current system and replace it with an alternative; falling very far short of a reasonable explanation and clutching at straws for justification.