The culture secretary has revealed the Government is stepping back from its new tough stance on illegal file-swapping, following widespread outcry against the move. Ben Bradshaw now says that a court order will have to be obtained by those wanting punish those they suspect of being persistent offenders – and that nobody will just be cut off “willy nilly.”

Officially, we are in the “implementation” phase of Digital Britain, though recent rumblings from the Government suggest that “disintegration” would be a more appropriate term. However, the Communications Consumer Panel (CCP) hasn’t given up on Digital Britain – and has just released its final response to the final report. Finally.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that there’d been a changing of the guard at the post of intellectual property minister – or that the role had been scrapped altogether. But David Lammy’s one of men who’s kept his position while the likes of Digital Britain architect Lord Carter and ex-Culture Secretary Andy Burnham have seen their former responsibilities reshuffled. And, despite Lord Mandelson’s moves towards tough new anti-piracy legislation, it’s refreshing to see he’s not changed his tune.

Stephen Timms has been confirmed as Stephen Carter’s main replacement for conquering the challenges of Digital Britain. However, it appears he won’t be taking over as communications minister as such, with Lord Carter’s former responsibilities to be divided between Mr. Timms and another MP.

Point Topic have been busy crunching numbers to illustrate how Next Generation Access (NGA) might be implemented.

Will the 50p phone line tax only bring fibre to 80% of the UK ?

Lord Carter says around ninety per cent of the journalists writing about Digital Britain just aren’t on the same page as him – in fact, he thinks they haven’t read his report at all.

A look at the 50p/month telephone tax and how it will be used to provide next generation access to the “Final Third”.

We look at the detail in the Digital Britain final report to see what the Universal Service Commitment really means.

If you’ve not got time to read the full 245 pages of Digital Britain, Samknows.com is here to help you understand what it means for the country’s online future. Because it’s a special occasion we’ve got our first ever interview with Samknows co-founder Alex Salter.

It may sound like a leaf out of the Book of Obama, but Gordon Brown says broadband is as important to Britain’s future as railways have been to its past. The Prime Minister’s been setting out his stall ahead of the final Digital Britain report being published.

The General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress says that “up to 25% of all online TV piracy” takes place in the UK and that the country “has the unenviable position of a world leader” in that respect. Writing for The Telegraph, Brendan Barber has argued there’s just one week left to save Britain’s creative industries – and of course he’s referring to the upcoming Digital Britain report.

BT Broadband has told Ministers it can put high-speed broadband within reach of ninety-three per cent of the UK population just by making inexpensive modifications to its current network. The firm’s currently in talks with Lord Carter ahead of the final Digital Britain report being published later this month.

ThinkBroadband have launched a survey to collate information on locations without broadband (notspots) or with speeds below 2 Mbits/s (slowspots). A support forum is also available.

With the upcoming launch of their new HYLAS satellite Avanti are promoting satellite broadband as the solution to a universal broadband service. In a Daily Mail article a price point of £15/month is suggested which is well below the £47/month for a 2M/512k service with 15 GB download offered by Avanti via the Scottish Government’s [...]

Eutelsat communications has launched their “Tooway” satellite broadband service with a pitch for providing Lord Carter’s 2Mbits/s “Universal” Service Obligation (USO). This is a 2-way satellite service with 2Mbits/s download and 256k or 384k upload depending on the satellite chosen. Faster services up to 10M are forecast for 2010.
Although proclaiming “Affordable broadband for homes faced [...]

In last week’s budget the Government committed to looking at the possibility of taxing intellectual property, which it sees as a means to the end of pulling the UK out of its economic hole. In the meantime it’s trying to work with film, music, publishing and Internet companies to try and keep the rights holders [...]

Lord Carter has been speaking out in defence of his “Digital Britain” report, and in particular its Broadband USO proposal, in response to the general online and public debate. Speaking at a meeting organised by NESTA he said
“In our judgement two megabits is a base level that means people can access government services and have [...]