The UK's House of Lords has struck down the government's controversial online piracy bill because of the powers it would grant to ministers, but has sparked equal anger with a replacement measure.
The bill in its current form would have given ministers power to change copyright laws without the need for further legislation, a clause the Lords rejected due to the “objectionable” nature of the “blanket” clause, the BBC said.
In place of the clause, the Lords supported an edict which would give courts the ability to block websites deemed to be infringing copyright.
But the replacement clause has drawn complaints from the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA), the Open Rights Group, Pirate Party UK and other stakeholders.
The ISPA said the proposal would lead to a regime of blocking sites based on accusations rather than proof.
The Pirate Party UK meanwhile argued that sites such as Google and YouTube would be considered infringers under the draft, which stipulates that if copyright material is “accessible at or via” the site it should be blocked.