Last week it was reported that a review of drink-driving laws in the UK has recommended a reduction in the allowed blood alcohol level for drivers. The government must now decide whether to act on the report. Over at Lords of the Blog, Baroness Deech asks for comments, suggesting that a balance has to be […]
The verdict in which a Swedish court jailed the founders The Pirate Bay site is just the latest attempt by the phonographic industries, film studios and record companies to cling on to the greedy monopoly they have over distribution of audio and visual media. The trouble is, even leaving the price of downloads aside, no […]
This week has seen the disgraceful case of a woman, Linda Buchanan, being pushed onto a railway line by two young men, apparently after she had reminded them that smoking isn’t allowed on stations. Interviews the following day give a slightly different version of events, suggesting that Mrs Buchanan had spoken to them about smoking […]
The EU Commission is proposing an extension to copyright on sound recordings, the same idea having been rejected by the UK government last year. At present, copyright on a recording lasts for 50 years, after which it enters the public domain. The proposal is for the copyright to be extended to 95 years. Unsurprisingly, the […]
Today it was proposed that smokers should have to buy an annual permit if they want to be able to buy cigarettes. The proposal, by government advisory board Health England, is that smokers would have to choose to “opt in” to buying tobacco by paying £10 a year for a permit. The permit would have […]
Copyright law in the UK allows few exceptions for fair use. People who rip their CDs to make MP3 files for their portable players are actually breaking the law, although record companies have indicated in the past that they won’t pursue people for doing so. Today, a consultation was announced on changes to copyright law […]
Today the BBC News Magazine has an article on the consequences for people who have been caught drink-driving, which is to be the theme of this year’s Christmas anti-drink drive advertising campaign. I left a comment via the form, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, they didn’t publish it. So I’ll repeat it here instead (expanded slightly, but […]
It is now three months since smoking was banned in enclosed public places in England, bringing it into line with the rest of the UK. I have to say that, while Tony Blair’s government have been unpopular on some issues, and have been criticised for producing too much legislation, the Health Act 2006 is one […]
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