Internet Hero and Villain nominees announced
The ISP Association has announced the finalists for its annual 'Internet Heroes and Villains' awards, with the European Parliament up for both awards.
The EP is nominated for the Hero award for resisting pressure to allow internet users to be thrown off the web for filesharing. It is nominated as a potential Villain of the year for backing the illegalisation of many forms of cookies.
Also nominated for the Hero award are: the Featured Artists Coalition, which has argued against the rest of the music industry about anti-filesharer legislation; the Community Broadband Network, for supporting grass-roots next-gen access; Lord Carter, for his "holistic" policy recommendations; and Barack Obama's online presidential campaign manager, Thomas Gensemer, for "showcasing the enormous power of the Internet".
Villain nominees include: business minister Shriti Vadera, for "excluding a number of ISPs and Rights Holders in agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding that was exclusive and ineffective in progressing relations between the two industries"; Nicholas Sarkozy for his ongoing commitment to throwing filesharers off the internet; and Stephen Conroy and the Australian government, for "continuing to promote network-level blocking despite significant national and international opposition".
The awards ceremony takes place in London on 9 July.