Via 38 degrees and ORG:
"Pressure is building today on Lord Mandelson to stop rushing through his plans to cut the internet connection of anyone that downloads copyrighted material. Today, a coalition of musicians, songwriters and producers spoke out calling his plans, "Expensive, illogical and extraordinarily negative". [1]
Since we launched our petition last week, hundreds of us have signed up to ask Mandelson to stop rushing through new rules. Now, if we all work together and ask our friends to sign, we can quickly make the petition grow even bigger. Please can you forward this email and ask your friends to sign by clicking this link?
http://38degrees.org.uk/message2mandy
The artists which include Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Damon Albarn said in their statement today that "We vehemently oppose the proposals being made and suggest that the stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot." Meanwhile, internet service providers and consumer groups, including BT and Which?, today warned that these plans will create a Kangaroo court which would "place serious limits on freedom of expression" in the UK. [2]
Only in June this year the government had ruled out draconian measures like these but it appears Mandelson decided to change government policy just days after a dinner with an industry executive in Corfu.
If enough of us take action, Mandelson will have to back down. Recently, he had to give up on his plan to privatise the post office after a popular outcry. Please help by asking your friends to sign the petition by clicking this link:
http://38degrees.org.uk/message2mandy
Thanks for getting involved,
Hannah, David, Nina, Johnny, Warren, and the 38 Degrees Team
[1] See for example here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/sep/03/youtube-prs-deal-file-sharing
[2] See for example here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6819093.ece "
Pangloss: Do I need to comment further?
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