Broadband News
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Queen's Speech: no talk of broadband tax
18 Nov 2009 | 23.33 Europe/London
The Queen's been giving Her annual address to Parliament, formally unveiling what will be the current Government's final legislative programme. In doing so, she announced that a new Digital Economy bill would be published on Friday and what the key elements will be - and there's no mention of the infamous 50p levy on landlines being implemented.
While the new bill will be officially confirmed in Parliament on Thursday, it looks like we won't learn all the details until the end of the working week. What's already clear is that what's often referred to as a "broadband tax" - a levy on fixed lines amounting to £6 per year - won't be included. This is despite Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms insisting that it was "full steam ahead" for the measure; on the surface, it appears it may have been dropped altogether.
The 50p levy, designed to create a "next-generation fund" to outfit Britain with super-fast broadband, hasn't been the most popular of proposals. "We believe that a broadband tax to subsidise the target of a minimum 2Mbit/s of broadband will only deter the private sector from improving its own infrastructure," declared the Federation of Small Businesses earlier. "Small businesses shouldn’t have to pay for a service which could be encouraged by opening up the market to more competition from internet providers who should then be compelled to install more efficient and effective speeds to attract the consumer."
Its detractors, however, can't afford to get overly-excited either: the reason for its omission from the Queen's Speech is simply a bureaucratic one. Because the broadband tax represents a new tax measure, it effectively can't be confirmed until the pre-Budget report, expected on December 9th. With the Digital Swithover surplus now set to fund regional news output instead, the tax is still the main tool at the Government's disposal towards fulfilling its pledge of putting super-fast broadband in the hands of ninety per cent of the UK population by 2017. And, at NextGen09 this week, Mr. Timms has made it clear he's adamant the tax will be pushed through before the next election.
As well as talk of simplifying UK copyright law (making it easier to use images online without gaining permission first), the Queen also laid out the Government's plans to get tough on pirates. The official line is that the new Digital Economy Bill will create “a robust legal and regulatory framework to combat illegal file-sharing and other forms of online copyright infringement and give Ofcom a specific new responsibility to significantly reduce this practice." What it will mean in practice is that we're going to see the post-Digital Britain Mandelson doctrine implemented - albeit in watered-down form.
Persistent illegal file-sharers will be faced with a two-stage process, evolved from dark Lord Mandelson's initial, apparently unworkable ideas for a piracy clampdown. First they'll be sent letters threatening legal action if they don't desist, with their details also being handed over to media firms who may decide to take legal action against them. Secondly, if they still won't walk the straight and narrow (ironically in this case, not "the plank"), their connections will be slowed or even suspended.
While ISPs like TalkTalk have insisted the Government's going to have its work cut out if it wants to cut off anybody - not least because of the EU's new Internet Freedom Provision - rights-holders have today welcomed the news. “People see software piracy as a victimless crime, but it robs organisations of their legitimate revenue to invest in new products, employees of their livelihood, and the government of taxable income from sales which all UK citizens benefit from eventually," says John Lovelock, Chief Executive of FAST (the Federation Against Software Theft). "What is rarely mentioned in the digital content debate is that twenty-seven per cent of the software used in UK businesses is illegal which equates to £1.3 billion loss per annum to the software industry alone – more than the losses to the film and music industries combined."
As we await the intricacies of the Digital Economy bill, it's already being described as "anaemic." Still, in her official capacity as Mouthpiece of the Government, Her Majesty is optimistic. "My Government will introduce a bill to ensure communications infrastructure that is fit for the digital age, supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications and enhances public service broadcasting," she promised. Her Government doesn't have long, however. What words, and of who's scripting, will she be saying next time she's called upon to make a Speech?
While the new bill will be officially confirmed in Parliament on Thursday, it looks like we won't learn all the details until the end of the working week. What's already clear is that what's often referred to as a "broadband tax" - a levy on fixed lines amounting to £6 per year - won't be included. This is despite Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms insisting that it was "full steam ahead" for the measure; on the surface, it appears it may have been dropped altogether.
The 50p levy, designed to create a "next-generation fund" to outfit Britain with super-fast broadband, hasn't been the most popular of proposals. "We believe that a broadband tax to subsidise the target of a minimum 2Mbit/s of broadband will only deter the private sector from improving its own infrastructure," declared the Federation of Small Businesses earlier. "Small businesses shouldn’t have to pay for a service which could be encouraged by opening up the market to more competition from internet providers who should then be compelled to install more efficient and effective speeds to attract the consumer."
Its detractors, however, can't afford to get overly-excited either: the reason for its omission from the Queen's Speech is simply a bureaucratic one. Because the broadband tax represents a new tax measure, it effectively can't be confirmed until the pre-Budget report, expected on December 9th. With the Digital Swithover surplus now set to fund regional news output instead, the tax is still the main tool at the Government's disposal towards fulfilling its pledge of putting super-fast broadband in the hands of ninety per cent of the UK population by 2017. And, at NextGen09 this week, Mr. Timms has made it clear he's adamant the tax will be pushed through before the next election.
As well as talk of simplifying UK copyright law (making it easier to use images online without gaining permission first), the Queen also laid out the Government's plans to get tough on pirates. The official line is that the new Digital Economy Bill will create “a robust legal and regulatory framework to combat illegal file-sharing and other forms of online copyright infringement and give Ofcom a specific new responsibility to significantly reduce this practice." What it will mean in practice is that we're going to see the post-Digital Britain Mandelson doctrine implemented - albeit in watered-down form.
Persistent illegal file-sharers will be faced with a two-stage process, evolved from dark Lord Mandelson's initial, apparently unworkable ideas for a piracy clampdown. First they'll be sent letters threatening legal action if they don't desist, with their details also being handed over to media firms who may decide to take legal action against them. Secondly, if they still won't walk the straight and narrow (ironically in this case, not "the plank"), their connections will be slowed or even suspended.
While ISPs like TalkTalk have insisted the Government's going to have its work cut out if it wants to cut off anybody - not least because of the EU's new Internet Freedom Provision - rights-holders have today welcomed the news. “People see software piracy as a victimless crime, but it robs organisations of their legitimate revenue to invest in new products, employees of their livelihood, and the government of taxable income from sales which all UK citizens benefit from eventually," says John Lovelock, Chief Executive of FAST (the Federation Against Software Theft). "What is rarely mentioned in the digital content debate is that twenty-seven per cent of the software used in UK businesses is illegal which equates to £1.3 billion loss per annum to the software industry alone – more than the losses to the film and music industries combined."
As we await the intricacies of the Digital Economy bill, it's already being described as "anaemic." Still, in her official capacity as Mouthpiece of the Government, Her Majesty is optimistic. "My Government will introduce a bill to ensure communications infrastructure that is fit for the digital age, supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications and enhances public service broadcasting," she promised. Her Government doesn't have long, however. What words, and of who's scripting, will she be saying next time she's called upon to make a Speech?