Poll shows lack of support for Digital Economy Act

A recent poll that was carried out has shown the lack of support that exists for the Digital Economy Act, which was passed into law by Labour shortly before the dissolution of parliament in the run up to the general election.

Shortly before the general election earlier this month parliament was dissolved, but prior to this happening the former Labour government used the ‘wash up’ period to try and rush through controversial bills, one of which was the Digital Economy Bill.

The Bill was passed into law prior to the dissolution of parliament, and has continued to cause controversy in the same way as it has since it was proposed by the Labour party. The Liberal Democrats, who now form part of the new coalition government, have already said that they plan to speak to Conservative peers with regards to repealing parts of the Digital Economy Act.

A recent poll has also shown that there is still a severe lack of support for this Act, with only 13.9 percent of respondents in the poll admitting to supporting the Digital Economy Act. In the poll nearly forty three and a half percent wanted the whole of the Act repealed, and twenty eight and a half percent wanted at least part of the Act repealed. Those that supported the act chose the answer: ‘I have concerns, but we should accept it as law’.

Speaking about how the new coalition government could deal with the Digital Economy Act one forum member stated: “I’m not sure what they could do about it at the moment. I think they have more high-priority issues to sort out than the Digital Economy Act.”

Source – Network World