Imagine the M20 near Folkestone. Now imagine that the traffic is only moving at four miles an hour and that in front of every vehicle there walks a man carrying a red flag.

This is what the world would be like if the Locomotive Act were still in force.

The law was introduced in 1865 because of fears that the growing use of traction engines and road locomotives would endanger the safety of the public. It was believed that mechanically propelled vehicles might cause injury or even fatal accidents on the road.

By the end of the 1800s public calls for unrestricted use of motor vehicles had become so loud that the unpopular and old fashioned law was dropped. (The first ever London to Brighton road race was held to celebrate its demise).

Today the government is in the process of passing a law which future generations will probably view in much the same way.
The Digital Economy Bill threatens to restrict access to the internet and criminalise many thousands of people even if there’s no proof they’ve done anything wrong. Although it’s intended to prevent illegal downloading and file sharing, the cure may be worse than the disease.

The driving force behind the legislation is the powerful music industry which has been complaining to the government (very successfully) that illegal downloads are destroying it. There’s actually very little evidence to support this (last year was the most successful in the UK’s history for singles sales; more than 117m were sold). Many regard downloading music as simply the modern equivalent of listening to the radio. And listening to the radio has never harmed record sales!

There’s widespread opposition to the new law from organisations including; BT, TalkTalk, Google, YouTube, The British Library, The Open Rights Group and of course millions of ordinary people. This week the Liberal Democrats joined the chorus of criticism.

Fast, unrestricted broadband is essential for the development of any modern economy. A law which restricts our access to it in any way seems foolish to me. A bit like requiring a car to be preceded by a man carrying a red flag.

Around 3,000 people are killed in the UK every year in road accidents, but no-one is arguing for the re-introduction of the Locomotive Act. Our society believes that the benefits of motor travel outweigh the disadvantages.

The Digital Economy Act will make Britain the first country in Europe to restrict citizens’ access to the internet. Perhaps politicians should think again before introducing a law which may go down in history as a bad joke.

Graham Majin is Head of Video Marketing at Kent Video Production Agency kershmedia.co.uk and kwikvid.com