interest to people in UK and others (Internet censorship)

Britain's back-room negotiations to establish a national, extrajudicial Internet censorship regime.

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/31/britains-back-room-n.html

It not really a surprise...Ed Vaizey said this was what he wanted back in October.

It stems from the fact that just before the last Labour Government died a natural death they introduced a swift bill through Parliament called Digital Economy Bill. Part of the bill allows Companies representing copyright owners to demand customer records from ISPs. Going farther than that it also made the ISPs responsible for collecting & keeping data about its customers download activities.
Ever since the law has been passed it has been unenforceable.
The ISPs have refused to keep records, claiming that they cannot & also refused to hand out customer details unless instructed to by the courts (on a one by one basis).
The high profile case against copyright infringers ended in complete farce. The Company representing the copyright holders attempted to withdraw prosecution half way through. Their solicitors have gone into liquidation. The cases were all thrown out by the judge & he is considering costs against the prosecuting companies.
The legality of other parts of the Bill are also due for a judicial review. Few believe that the law will uphold many parts of it as legal, let alone workable & enforceable.

The entire Digital Economy Bill episode has been a disgrace. That was made worse by the fact that it was the so called 'workers' party of Labour that introduced what was a steam roller driven by large Corporations to crack individuals shows just how far 'New Labour' had come..

It will be interesting to see what deal the new Government comes to with the ISPs. They (the Service Providers) have firmly hide behind what they believe the legal restrictions that the law places on them plus the threat of European Law concerning what they are permitted to do. It does not do their business any good to involved as being policemen & I think it is something they are all to well aware of...