An old bird is not to be caught with chaff
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While the bill's underway the Lords will play
WHILE THE ONLINE WORLD masses its armies against the (Dark) Lord Mandelson over his proposed three-strikes disconnection policy and the Section 17 clause in the Digital Economy Bill, it was eye-opening, not to mention amusing, to see that those making the laws were taking the Bill's second reading in the House of Lords as a chance to make jovial quips and puns.
Introducing his speech on the Bill, Lord Mandelson said, with what must have been some seriously smarmy relish as he finally got to deliver a pun that must have been struggling to form in his mind for months now, "I recognise that this House is probably the one place in Britain where peer-to-peer file-sharing is associated more with passing notes in the Lords' tea room than with piracy, but, joking aside, this is a major problem for Britain's creative industries," he quipped.
Not to be outdone Lord Fowler engaged in some jocular banter with Mandy in which he claimed to "have already made more political comebacks than the noble Lord, Lord Mandelson", to which Mandelson quite rightly replied, "Impossible!"
Fowler then continued by relaying the details of something that occurred to him during the State Opening: "I was rather put in my place at the State Opening. The cameras roamed over those of us waiting and, I am told, for a moment or two dwelt on me, which noble Lords might think was rather good - and it might have been had the BBC commentator not chosen to add the remark 'Ah, there's a face from the past' So my first complaint about the Bill is that it does nothing to curb the excessive salaries paid to BBC commentators."
They must have been rolling in the aisles.
Clearly warming to their theme, the Lords continued with their hilarity and, after Lord Puttnam apologised to the House for being unable to deliver his speech, Lord Lucas replied, quick as a flash: "My Lords, I am sure that I am not the only noble Lord in this House to be extremely disappointed to miss out on the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam. If he has written it out, perhaps he will e-mail it to us so that we catch it anyway."
It's all in the way he tells them, apparently.
It's good to see though, that in amongst debating one of the most controversial and far-reaching technology bills of the past, well, ever, the Lords still found time to enjoy themselves. µ
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Reminder : the UK is not a democracy, it is a constitutional monarchy.
this is just typical of the evil lord mandelson.
you take a serious issue and turn it into trivia by sweeping generalisations to dupe and con people in power to do your (business) bidding.
all this at the expense of public confidence (we dont like being patronised by a smug git) and erosion of our political system via improper behaviour.
bring back the gallows and rid us of this (in)sidious scumbag
... SHOVE this BILL up their noble arses. The INTERNET is a service that only grows because it have its inherent FREEDOM.
When more and more countries begin to put up policies for the IPS's to comply with, the more the internet will become just a big catalogue of paid services, with no appeal at all.
There are many projects all around the world that are working hard to bring Internet's openness for free to comunities that would not be able to pay for it... what benefit it would bring them when the Internet become a no more than a shopping catalogue?
FREE THE NET o/
Mandy's best comebacks involve far reaches around, a guest aghast gas gas...
Who are these celebrities? and why? we are at meagre rations for their rat eating row? Todgy Tossiers eating crisps while watching Bear Grylls, or eating chocolate while watching stage musicals, or sleeping having fested on crumpets and elderberry!
Who is certifying the FAIRTRADE Marks? FUD!
The gibberish pants are scaring me, Ray.
I carn'T starnd the violins!
I have some pretty strong feelings on the state of this country at the moment. And I also have some strong feelings about the unelected peers that control our country.
But then again, I have a really big problem with those who think that someone's sexuality has any bearing on their ability to do their job.
PS: I had to look up what antediluvian means. Since you have already called me (and everyone else in our country) a moron, would you like to have a dig for not knowing this too?
Well, what can you expect from a bunch of inbred gay morons?
Of course, I dunno who's dumber, the Lords, or the citizenry who insists on keeping those antediluvian inbreds around.
At least in the U.S., our inbred morons have to be elected to office, the citizens have no one to blame but themselves.
they can legislate as much as they want, Im not about to suddenly go out and start buying CDs and DVDs again.
Presumably, then, the next step will be to jack up the license fee and use it to compensate all the poor starving record company fat cats because the continued decline in sales *must* be due to piracy (even though all the pirates were disconnected), right?
This government stinks of corruption. I wouldnt put it past them.
Although the supposedly "witty banter" doesn't really show off the Lords in a good light, the upper chamber has managed to defeat some pretty nasty New Labour legislation in the past. That said, if one is enthusiastic about institutional reform, there are initiatives:
http://www.power2010.org.uk/
May I suggest,the construction of a superfast conveyor belt, between the HOUSE OF lords & the Thames,as an 'escape' hatch for their lordshits
in time of a national emergency.
May it also be obligatory to test it on the lords,in a 'musical chairs' fashion & one by one, quick as a flash, project them at hypersonic speed into the 'refreshing' waters of our 'beloved' Thames.
'Mandy' & boyfriend can of course pre-test the capabilities of such device,in order of ascending self-importance.
These over-paid, over-stuffed buffoons are the only thing that stand between the UK's subjects and Mandelson's insane law.
We're doomed.
Well said...
That might have been the case 50 years ago, but here in the U.S., access to telco services is considered an entitlement in most jurisdictions, hence, the steeply discounted fees for folks at the poverty level. In such cases, basic service is available for as little as 5$ per month. Basic internet access is increasingly available also as major US cities implement basic wifi coverage free to all residents. A democracy is only as good as its least informed citizen. An uniformed, uneducated citizen is an easily manipulated citizen, particular in times of fear, uncertainty and doubt. When politicians pass laws that make access to information and education more difficult, they are essentially ensuring their place in the power structures. Lords indeed.
....Jokers. You really cannot get any more comical that a room full of unelected twits. Proof positive that democracy [cough] is a joke.
telco service is a luxury hence the luxury tax it recieves. this fact is what allows me to not give my phone number to my employer and thus they have had to splurge and purchase a beeper for me to carry around. I hate them phones.
"Lord Almighty" as we say here in the states whenever presented with something so ridiculous that it begs credulity. We've had three strike laws here for almost 30 years, but in our case it applies to criminal;s, locking them away for life because they stole three bicycles on three separate occasions, and similarly stupid things. In fact, it only encourages excessive violence and risk taking since those with two strikes figure they have nothing to lose. Bottom line: any three strikes provision is going to lead to injustice, unforeseen circumstances, and further burden on the general public already dragged down by the imbecilic tastes of record companies and movie studios, by the DRM scam that encourages piracy because the legally purchased content either doesn't play or plays poorly, and by the loss of Fair Use.
If this bill goes into effect, there will be thousands of people disconnected through no fault of their own. Where are the provisions for people who get hacked, for people with children that invite over spotty faced piers who make illicit downloads while mommy and daddy are at work, and best of all, for those people who get a third strike because some bone-headed prole misreported the IP address or the ISP who errs in associating an IP address with the wrong subscriber?
We are long past the time when internet access was a plaything, a curiosity or a toy for rich people. Internet access is rapidly becoming fundamental to the way people lead their lives, much like access to water, gas, electricity or telco service. With all that can go wrong, it seems that the debate on a law providing for a lifetime ban on internet access deserves more attention than one Pier asking another to pass the Grey Poupon.