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UK lords call for central 'Digital Authority' to help regulate internet
The UK govenment's demand for stricter regulation of internet companies is only growing louder. A report from a House of Lords committee has called for the creation of a central "Digital Authority" that would watch over all the efforts to regulate the technology world, particularly online giants. While the new body would largely let individual organizations (such as Ofcom and ICO) do their work, it would coordinate those larger efforts and recommend "additional powers" if there are significant problems.
Hackers target UK parliament email accounts
After a report from The London Times that the email addresses and passwords of British cabinet members and other government officials were being traded by Russian hackers, it looks like the inevitable next step has occurred: a cyberattack on the UK parliament.
Investigatory Powers Bill gets vote of approval from MPs
The Investigatory Powers Bill passed its latest milestone yesterday, as the proposed surveillance legislation passed through the House of Commons. MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bill, with 444 ayes to only 69 noes. In the run-up to the vote, Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham voiced several concerns, saying the draft law needed "significant improvement" before his support was guaranteed. The Home Office did manage to secure the Labour Party vote, however, thanks to several concessions on its part, including submitting to an independent review of untargeted, bulk surveillance powers.
NASA works with UK government to help manage drone traffic
As more drones take to UK skies, the government has called on the biggest name in aerospace to reduce the number of accidents caused by wayward UAVs. It's teaming up with NASA to build and test new tracking systems that can manage both public and private flights, ensuring hobbyists and commercial drone operators don't get in each other's way. "The Government are in early discussions with NASA about the drone traffic management system," said Department of Transport Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad at the House of Lords. "It is hoped that those discussions will lead to a UK involvement in the development of that system and the participation of UK industry in future trials to test the robustness of the technology."
Posting revenge porn could soon become a serious criminal offence
The posting of 'revenge porn' may become unequivocally illegal in England and Wales soon, after the House of Lords agreed yesterday the law should be amended to specifically include the practice. Currently, anyone that shares explicit images to humiliate a former partner can be prosecuted under sex offense laws -- something the Crown Prosecution Service was keen to highlight in new guidance released a few weeks ago. To deal with the growing problem more directly, however, the Lords' amendment would consider the sharing of such images a serious criminal offense in its own right, carrying a maximum prison sentence of two years. Should MPs in the House of Commons approve the amendment, perpetrators would be more easily punishable, and victims would have stronger grounds to demand the removal of any published images. Clarifying the law with regards to revenge porn isn't the only crackdown on bad internet behaviour currently under consideration, as the UK Justice Secretary recently called for the maximum prison sentence for serious trolls to be increased from six months to two years.
UK government receptive to bill that would pardon Alan Turing
Many in the UK recognize Alan Turing's contributions to computing as we know it, but attempts to obtain a pardon for the conviction that tragically cut short his career have thus far been unsuccessful. There's a new glimmer of hope, however: government whip Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon says that the current leadership has "great sympathy" for a bill that would pardon Turing. As long as no one calls for amendments, the legislation should clear Parliament's House of Lords by late October and reach the House of Commons soon afterward. While there's no guarantee that the measure will ultimately pass, the rare level of endorsement suggests that Turing's name could soon be cleared.
House of Lords wants UK TV to go fully online and leave airwaves clear for cellphones
The UK House of Lords' Communications Committee has suggested that all broadcast TV should be moved to the internet to free up wireless spectrum for cellphones. In its report, the panel found that whilst such a network would be cheaper and more efficient in the long run, it would also require extensive re-building of the country's archaic communications infrastructure. Given that the analog-to-digital switchover is currently in progress, it seems unlikely that a further transition will be timetabled -- especially since there are still concerns over the cost of bringing fiber-optic broadband to rural areas. Any change in the plan will need to be rubber-stamped by Government, but perhaps it'd be more amenable if they saw how good 8K video looks on one of those connections.
