Week in Review: Digital Economy Bill passes, Apple keeps busy

Digital Economy Bill passed by Parliament

After setting the date for the next general election, the Government brought the massive Digital Economy Bill into the House of Commons for a quick read and a wee bit of a debate before passing it into law.

Despite tens of thousands of individuals - not to mention Google and TalkTalk - complaining about the bill and the speed at which it was passed, party whips forced it through.

A few MPs - notably Tom Watson and Jeremy Corbyn - voted against party lines in protest, but we still face the possibility of being disconnected over file sharing or no YouTube because of copyright infringement. Campaigners might have lost the battle, but on the other hand a good number of Britons got a quick education as to how parliament actually works...

Apple's big announcements

Last week, Apple released its iPad in the US, to the usual lineups and massive media coverage.

We've had one kicking around the office for a few days, prompting everything from derision - "it really is a big iPhone" and "can we smash it?' - to impressed "oohs" and "awwws". Read our iPad review here for the full details.

Apple decided to keep its name in the headlines this week by revealing what to expect from iPhone OS 4.0. It seems the iconic smartphone will finally be able to multi-task, but don't expect to see Flash anytime soon.

Best of the rest

Mobile operator 3 unveiled a mobile hotspot for your car, the ICO gets the power to fine up to 500,000 for data breaches, and an IT failure caused big delays on one of our tube lines.

And the IT recovery is "officially underway" - how's that for cheerful news ahead of the weekend?