LONDON — The Open Rights Group will hold a discussion on Tuesday to discuss with adult entertainment stakeholders what the Digital Economy Bill could mean for their online properties.
The planned discussion at the Newspeak House in London comes as the Digital Economy Bill moves up toward “royal assent” and into law.
Today, the Digital Economy Bill is in its third reading, which is the final chance to amend the bill.
From the third reading, the amendments will be heard by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords before it reaches royal assent.
Among numerous provisions, the Digital Economy Bill contains measures to force age verification for adult sites. Sites, including foreign ones, that don't comply with age checks will face problems with payment processors.
The piece of legislation also hands over new powers to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to enforce rules over types of sex acts that are distributed over the web. As a result, passage of the bill would mean that catalogs of "extreme" adult content from foreign porn sites would effectively become unavailable in the U.K.
On Tuesday, the Open Rights Group’s discussion will be lead by London attorney Myles Jackman, who also is the group’s legal director, and Pandora Blake, an adult performer and sexual liberties advocate.
The Open Rights Group discussion, titled “The Digital Economy Bill: Stop U.K. Censorship of Legal Content,” will be held on Tuesday, April 11, between 7-9 p.m., at the Newspeak House, 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG, London.
Pictured: Myles Jackman, attorney and Open Rights Group legal director
