It has been revealed that an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill, which had been designed to help broadband users in the UK, has been thrown out by the House of Lords.

For many people trying to get a broadband related complaint or issue sorted out can be a real nightmare, and many people get pushed from one service provider to another as companies try and pass the buck when it comes to dealing with complaints and issues. In order to try and get this issue resolved an amendment was tabled into the Digital Economy Bill by Lord Erroll calling for the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, to establish a scheme that would be geared towards handling broadband related issues and disputes.

However, despite the fact that this amendment could have helped the many broadband users that experience frustrations on a regular basis the House of Lords has thrown the amendment out, which means that many broadband users will continue to experience problems. According to reports there was no further discussion about the amendment after it had been thrown out.

The move means that broadband users will continue to be pushed from pillar to post when trying to sort out broadband issues and disputes, and in the event of a dispute may still be left waiting for weeks before any complaint is looked at through an Ofcom approved resolution scheme.

The Liberal Democrats have also tried to make the amendment that would force ISPs to block copyright infringing sites less controversial by refining the amendment to state that “any person aggrieved may apply to the court on notice to the copyright owner and service provider to require the service provider to remove or vary the nature of the block”.

Source – PC Pro