An ambitious British plan calls for the country to wire all homes with broadband by as soon as 2012. While the U.S. is also working on expanding broadband penetration to areas that don't yet have access to high-speed internet, that job looks a lot more feasible for the UK to pull off first, especially considering the country's size; the island nation is under a hundred thousand square miles in area, compared to the U.S. at around 3.8 million.

Right now the number of homes with broadband access in Britain is around 60%, so the country has a very long way to go in only a short time if it really intends to meet that 2012 goal. Part of the plan to speed up infrastructure development includes cutting down on government interference with companies wanting to invest in broadband deployment.

News of a nation full of broadband users must have spooked some politicians with ties to copyright groups, as part of the proposal to get the country online includes provisions forcing ISPs to disconnect users accused of piracy. Measures calling for ISPs to get involved with private disputes between computer users and copyright holders are rife with controversy, seen as both a quick-and-easy solution to the mess of dragging offenders through the courts, and an end-run around the legal system, with the ISPs acting as involuntary copyright enforcement police. We expect to hear more arguments from both sides before the UK makes its final proposal on its future internet plans this June.

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