A coalition of library organizations in the U.K. warned that...
A coalition of library organizations in the U.K. warned that libraries and learning institutions would suffer destructive blows from 2010 the Digital Economy Act (DEA) and additional provisions presented in June in the draft Initial Obligations Code. The coalition includes…
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the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CLIP), Libraries and Archives Alliance, and Research Libraries U.K. They're supporting the aim to fight piracy and protect creators’ rights, and the government was “going the wrong way about it by treating libraries, schools, colleges and universities in the same way as private individuals,” the coalition said in a Tuesday news release (http://xrl.us/bng7tj). Libraries under the DEA could be put on a copyright infringement list for potential wrongdoings of individuals, the groups warned. Measures of the act once fully implemented could go as far as slowing Internet speed or suspending line access of libraries, the coalition said. It said some libraries might decide to pull the plug to the Internet in the first place, to avoid the cost necessary to monitor and manage the implementation of the DEA provisions. The libraries’ request an exemption to be able to provide Internet access. “This isn’t about excluding libraries from the Act, it isn’t about breaking copyright law or endorsing piracy -- it’s about recognizing libraries’ unique role by creating an exception within the Act -- which Ofcom are perfectly able to do,” CLIP President Phil Bradley said of the U.K.’s telecom regulator. “Ofcom are already creating an exception for commercial suppliers of Wi-Fi, for example."