After weeks and months of speculation and concern regarding the Digital Economy Bill it has been revealed that the House of Lords is looking to offer some amendments regarding antipiracy legislation. The UK government is desperately trying to push through the Digital Economy Bill before the next election even though there are some concerns within the political scene and the commercial marketplace.

Many of the concerns centre round the power given to the courts to literally strike off any website from the Internet at a moments notice without "due judicial process". There have been accusations of a heavy-handed approach by the UK government during a process which has been spearheaded by Lord Mandelson who has in some quarters been accused of being too close to those operating in the commercial markets involved.

While there is no doubt that the Internet has become a haven for the downloading of copyrighted and illegal material there have already been many changes to the original Digital Economy Bill and it looks as though more will follow. There is a growing feeling that the government has rushed this particular issue as we approach the next general election and a number of last-minute concessions may be required to push it through the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

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