- guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 4 March 2010 07.00 GMT
Lord Mandelson's plans to tackle illegal filesharing have received widespread criticism Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters
One of the most contentious parts of the controversial digital economy bill was voted down by the House of Lords last night – only to be replaced by a clause that campaigners say is even more draconian.
The Liberal Democrats forced through a surprise amendment to the bill's notorious clause 17 on Wednesday – in a move that dealt a defeat to the government but troubled critics, who suggest it will have the opposite effect that its creators intend.
Instead of sweeping new powers that threatened sweeping alterations to British copyright law, the Lib Dems added a clause that gives extra oversight to the high court.
The new proposal – which was passed in the House of Lords by 165
votes to 140 – gives a high court judge the right to issue an
injunction against a website accused of hosting a "substantial" amount
of copyright infringing material, potentially forcing the entire site
offline.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/04/lords-digital-economy-bill
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