UK to kill off Internet cafes

This is so wrong, why are you people in the UK allowing this to happen?

We allow things like this to happen because A) We have no written consitiution to stop things like this and B) Because the majority of people can't be bothered to do anything about/don't care about the problems enough to do anything. So the country gets ruined one small law at a time.

Churchill realised this: "If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law."

Too many laws, noone cares anymore. I hope that answers your question :)

This is just another knee jerk reaction from an ignorant government who have little or no understanding of how to stop copyright infringement. Their solution seems to be to shut down access to the internet altogether.

This is a statement and a gester from a position of ignorance that will not stop nor even deter people downloading copyrighted material.

This is a Déjà vu - Bulgarian government has tried to do the same just 3 months ago. The motives had nothing to do with copyright protection, it was "fight organized crime"...After some months of petitions, street protests and prime-time media coverage, the governemnt gave up...for now.
The governments around the world really like the "Big Brother" concept and are ready bring the people back to the mediveal age, if not to the stone age...
JUST FIGHT THEM BACK!
Use Facebook, Twitter etc.

This is one of the very few means through which people can get almost anonymous access to internet (randomizing their wifi card's MAC, of course). I don't think I know anyone who could be bothered to go to a cafe every day to download movies/MP3s. But there's quite a few people ready to do this to post MPs expenses lists or other stuff on Wikileaks.
BTW, do you know you need to show your ID to get access to internet in any internet cafe in China?

this has nothing to do with copyright... this is only the slow process of takeing away freedom and to have all under control

And, here is another fine example of the old gits in parliament, who have no clue into the real world, making decisions/laws without thinking it thru! Do they not realize the impact this is going to have on the small businesses that offer this type of customer service (something that is SEVERELY lacking in this country)? If the govt. is using the "illegal downloads of music/movies" excuse/reason for passing such a law, they REALLY don't have a clue.... if someone wants to illegally download music/movies they won't need a WiFi connection in the local Starbucks to do it.

Oh please! No wonder over 700+ people PER DAY leave this country permanently!

This is happening because the government is corruptly controlled by the media companies, but almost everyone gets all their news and information from those same media companies or organisations they control. If this does get reported at all in the media it will be explained as a very sensible (and long overdue) measure that will cut down on terrorism, child pornography and illegal immigration. Hardly anyone will notice it. I just hope that if this oppressive law ever gets passed we will react as the French have done.

I heard that you can not even use a bus in England without government knowing where and when you go.
Why not just implant you with GPS so goverment can track you easier?

So the government is going to "protect business" by harming business and individuals.

This is a bad law in so many ways. It will not stop file sharing, it will harm innocent people, it will damage businesses and access to the internet.

The government's complete ignorance on this is staggering, and has only happened since Mandy spent his few days on Geffen's yacht.

The British Public wont allow this to happen. We have a general election coming up and we can vote these idiots out. We will have a new government soon whether its conservative or a lib-lab govnt it wont be trying stunts like these - which are only happening to take our attention away from the fact that the country has been bankrupted by incompetant government.

Am I missing something here?

Although I can openly contect to an intranet at University in order to access non-university webpages I have to connect via a VPN before I can get off campus and access the internet. This requires a username and password.

There is no reason why internet cafes can't do this - it isn't difficult to set up a VPN gateway.

You should be under no illusion that the Tories will somehow ride in and rescue the situation. They have stated repeatedly that they are in broad support of these measures to 'protect copyright holders'. Their objections lie in the direction of public subsidies for broadband infrastructure, for the sake of the free-market don'ch ya know.

Whoever is in Parliament in June will be lunching with the same industry lobbyists.

And George Osborne has spent a not insignificant amount of time on "friend's" yachts in the Med. Incidentally, George also seems to lack any sort of understanding of economics.

Wow they really suck lol.

Dramatization:

The gov. advisor says to the Gov guy: The internet cafes are to blame of the slowing down of our Gov web lines and the economic melt of the UK (youtube is too slow!)! Their evil Mr Gov. guy! Gov guy says: Ok lets shut them down now to prevent more future damage and for the safety of the UK people!

The Gov to the rescue! again...

Here we go again.

So much for freedom. I hope my Blackberry will work in the UK. That apparently will be my only hope of getting Internet access there. Rubbish. And this is all about "file sharing"?? WTF??

This reminds me of when I attended a Military School here across the pond. The Commandant was a Psycho. He believed in mass punishment. He was finally fired for negligence. By passing or attempting to pass this new law, citizens are being punished. It is my belief that there are undisclosed reasons for passing this law. I cannot see why any government would be willing to deprive citizens of internet access to protect special interest groups.

Just change the wireless SSID to "ThePasswordIs(insert WPA password here)"

It's not the annoyance of getting and using a password.

It's that the access point provider is subject to HUGE risk: if a subscriber, can have all internet access shut off if anyone on the intranet downloads copyrighted material -- or more precisely, on mere accusation of such. Or if provider is acting as an ISP, then it must maintain logs, with the sysadmin risking jail if those are faulty or not surrendered upon demand.

That's why this is SO dangerously draconian.

He's trying to drum up business for the Post Office!

I say we should ban post-boxes. The post offices are fully aware that their service is being used for illegal purposes by their customers and they do nothing about it! It's a disgrace! ;)

Maybe they should put all the criminals on an island, then they can revolt against the government, form a constitution and claim to be free!

oh wait, did that already happen?, oh well, history repeats itself :)
over and over and over and

Next time you see an MP, steal his laptop, find his kiddy porn stash and blackmail him to vote against the potential proposal. I reckon at least 60% of them must be kiddy fiddlers and dwarf porn specialists.
Is this post getting banned?

This is just plain stupid.
Since when do software pirates use Wifi Cafe's to download illegal content.

I would bet that 99.99 % of all illegal content is downloaded within the confines of people's own homes.

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? This assumes guilt and punishes prior to anything happening and in the process erodes personal freedom.

If I'm understanding correctly, you would not be able to get internet in a hotel, convention centre, or any other provider apart from your ISP who would have to store your data traffic patterns and (with such broad wording) drop you from service at the first sign of any suspicious packet to avoid lawsuits from the media cartels.

Draconian doesn't even come close, that thing is Orwellian.

theINQ continues growing, like twiddle dee. More EZines with V3, Don't forget email signups. wanna yap at: theINQ.

[email protected]

theReders Internet site & cafe' forum. Going back to when Hottest Type Was IE6, thats when Quit for year, JUST To Get Away from DeFective Machinry. Now Look:

All praise the great gods of the InterWeb for their divine intervention. March 1, 2010 is Internet Explorer 6's judgment day, when mighty Google and Microsoft looked down from the heavens -- or Mt. Olympus, if you prefer - and cast IE6 into the abyss. Starting today, Google is beginning to phase out support for Internet Explorer 6, while Microsoft presents European Union Windows users with a ballot screen for choosing even the most obscure browser, but not IE6. Microsoft's once mighty browser has fallen -- and not a second soon enough.

IE6's heart turned evil long ago. Microsoft released the browser in 2001
in 2003 Moved to Washington Just to Get Away from Minneapolis. Those cafes where So LAME, Breding Ground of Simple minded national Religious, Blue Heaven Zealots thru out. & POT. Which wouldn't SELL, only Showed, NO TALE. Come On. Lake & Lyndale.

Sure cafe sounds nice, yet NO OUTSIDE customers. if cafe' had set top box special offer & cafe' website, Like lovely INQ has. yet, NO. Worry Their Oder might be permanent. still just as FUN As Earlier ARTS Mixer: 2120 Club. NBC cafe' of OhKee' Dohchee' Porports, Just NO ONE GETS IN.Still to this Day.

Blame the RIAA MPAA Hollywood.
Do what I am doing and stop feeding those pigs.Hurt that industry all you can by not ever buying another new film or corporate music.
Buy Used.
Buy Indies new.

At the time when the Berlin wall came down, all the western governments were shocked about the spying and total control the former communistic governments had over their people. At least that is their official position. Secretly, they envied them beyond believe, and just regretted not being able to get away with the same thing. They just had to wait for a decade, and along came the excuse "anti-terrorism" and presto. A governments wet dream could be realised. I wonder what Orwell would think...

You are wrong. I am born in an ester european country and I can tell you that communistic governments did not even dreamed that they can spy on all citizens. They only spy on maybe 0.1% of citizens.
i think that even china is more free country than UK

This has nothing to do with piracy. Has there been a single case of Starbucks being named in a piracy case? No didn't think so.
Most coffee shop connections are so bad you'd be lucky if you could get a single mp3 down before your 3rd coffee... Don't even think about a movie!

This is all about being able to track (control) internet access. Any minute now there will be an addition that anyone issuing a password to a wifi point will have to take a photograph and ID from the recipient. Oh, and then they'd be arrested for taking the photograph too!

I'm amazed they haven't just come clean about the tracking and said it was against terrorism... Or maybe they realised they might have flogged that one a bit to death.

And of course this won't stop someone that really wanted to anonymous access. Apart from anything else they could steal any decent mobile phone and tether it, or buy a PAYG.

Total fucking dumb scum running and behind the UK government and other affiliated parasites!

GET UP, ORGANIZE, SEEK OUT AND THROW THAT SCUM OUT!

Please wake the fuck up already people!

Service to self retards! Like self serving governments (to corporates and global elite, banking scum! etc) No matter how much sugar coating and spin they put on issues it is your own ignorance and compliance that allows them to get away with doing the real crimes on society and instigating problems!!!!!!

Your are being manipulated and controlled like fucking dimwitted sleeping sheep slaves, living under tyranny and big brother!

Just wake up and seek truth, then use it against them freeloading scum that have stolen from the people and have been riding off the backs of good people for to long now!

Arithmetic a bit out old boy..1814 was not that long ago...

The UK government is so out of touch with its people just like here in the US. They don't give a shit what the people have to say. Even if every citizen excluding those sleeping with the entertainment cartel voted no on this bill. The government has been bought out by the entertainment cartel, corporate elites and bankers. I'm willing to bet that if the laws were strictly enforced, most of the UK parliament would be in jail. As would members of the US congress.

I believe the civil and legal means for the citizens to influence their government have failed and a more direct an extreme method of citizen influence is required

Why is the governmentt doing this? Simple: it extends government control. They wet themselves at the thought of being able to read everyone's email, and see everyone's browsing history.

They aren't sure what they would actually do with all that data. They say that they would catch paedophiles and drug dealers and those evil people stealing tunes from hard-up mega rock bands. They actually think of being able to cross-reference everyone's life (all our car number plates are now being read and, presumably, recorded when we're on major roads) with their DNA and their bank records and they think, "That's going to be so useful with any sort of policing."

The police just want to know what everyone is doing all of the time - they think it would make their job easier. They are sure it would be simpler to find a crime to fit anyone's life.

Why do we put up with it? Well, we don't have any government which would turn down this sort of control. The police like it, the security agencies like it and the civil servants like it. The only way it will get reversed if it really starts to inconvenience one of the more permanent powers.

Why do people put up with it?

So many people are confident that it will never affect them, just the freeloaders, the evil drug barons and people who claim benefits. They say, "If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear," and then get outraged when they are caught speeding.

And, of course, the press keep feeding them, "Catch these evil people," stories, to allow fear to keep them controlled.

And the US? Those are the authorities who demand that if an aeroplane flies over US air space, then the name, passport details, home address, credit card details and points of special interest (like them maybe looking Muslim) of every passenger on board have to be handed over to those same US authorities. Presumably the DNA profile will be added to that list as soon as both countries get round to having everyone's DNA on a central database.

It may tell you how far things have gone, when I say that I thought briefly about not posting this, in case it got me into trouble later - and I'm a private law-abiding citizen, not someone on whom it would be useful to have dirt. I think.

Your tabloids still set the world standard, but you're becoming economically irrelevant. Even when your banks were doing well, it's just because you were copying the corruption that U.S. banks invented.

These laws and MORE will pass no matter how much complaining you do. WHY , because The lawmakers are wise enough to recognize JUNKIES when they see them.
Just like a heroin junkie will do anything to maintain his fix.
Just like you boozers will pay inflated prices and extra taxes for a drink.
Just like you cable TV junkies will pay yearly rate hikes.
Just like you cell phone addicts will pay annual rate hikes for service.
Just like ball worshipers have been paying more and more to see a ball game.
YOUR ADDICTIONS ARE NOTICED/NOTED AND GOVERNED BY FREE MARKETEERS AND RICH FAT CATS YOU HAVE BEEN FREELY SUPPORTING.

Only way stop the pusher/fat cats from getting power over you and becoming richer is.....STOP USING HIS DRUGS/SERVICES
Hint: Stop using internet and then things will change.
But this will never happen because most junkies die before they ever quit !

Can't live without the net ? Imaging what people did for their fix/enjoyment before the net was invented and try doing those things instead. Otherwise you may as well just shut up and pay the piper like all addicts do !

AND ...Just like a true Addict... I SMELL DENIAL !

If I want to do anything illegal on the net I'd just drive round to the local housing estate and find an open wi-fi connnection, there's loads of them that the owners don't even know about.

Typical techo clueless government

Not merely draconian. Most, including even me, habitually assume that in a police state you're okay if following the "laws", however harsh or stupid those might be. But you're not, because the key feature of authoritarianism is RANDOMNESS in running afoul not of laws but of the criminals who masquerade as gov't. -- That's a gov't of men and not of LAWS. (Of course, they also ignore what their own partners in crime do, unless it becomes advantageous not to.)

Besides, no matter what you do, you're violating some supposed bit of law RIGHT NOW. Gov't no longer regards you as in the least free but as a criminal whom they've yet to get round to and extract money from.

Orwell termed the thought process of your last paragraph "crimestop"; the commies call it "self-censorship". Important point is to instill fear in you so that you don't even think of opposing the true criminals.

At this stage of The Plan all opposition is good. You don't risk getting them mad at you, because they're already insane, resolved only to seize total control. And it's still possible to avert the actuality. Protesting at every (in-context) opportunity WILL help.

That decision is like saying that everyone at Internet Cafe' are Pirates. Somehow I seem to doubt that. Universities possiably but not a Cafe'. Just because there is a free connection to the internet shouldn't mean that it is being used for illicit purposes. Such as Illigal Downloading.

Just because the user cannot be directly tracked shouldn't mean that you should shut off access on the rare event that someone may download something that they shouldn't.

Before long you will have to give your Name, Address, license etc to the Cafe' in order to access the internet so that they can keep record of when you were on and what you did etc. Every site you visit should be logged... Just in case the RIAA wants to come and sue someone for $$$$.

I think that is beyond being big brother.

You might as well shut down the intire internet as there is a slight change that someone may download something..

Jolly Olde England has morphed into to the Soviet People's Glorious Republic of England. So sad that the country that gave us Simon De Montfort, parliament and Magna Carta has turned into a dystopian hellhole.

This is another part of the divide and conquor whilst curtailing the freedom of information. Any excuse will do, just as long as it sounds plausable. IF they can p**s us off enough we will fight between each other and save them an awful lot of work. These 'little' tactics are just extra nudges on an already angry population. But it's not just the UK, it's just that the UK government has become very adept at it. What we really need protecting against is the tyranical leadership coming into force in this country, not from watching telly tubbies on the internet whilst drinking a coffee.

In any event, like most people, I don't trust 'any' government which runs this country and none of them are worthy of leadership. They're too busy worthiping devil religions, running paedophile rings (see www.davidiche.com - Hollie Greig case in Scotland, in which even Gordon Brown himself is named as a paedophile) and embeselling the public purse for second homes. Oh, not to mention the use of public funds to re-organise the police service for the upcoming supression of us all. In light of this, of which there is very solid and uncontrovertable evidence, the restriction of internet access in your local cafe really does pale into insignificance.

Imagine having freedom? :)