Education, Enforcement
and New Business Models Essential to Tackling Unlawful Filesharing
Lord Mandelson
today called for a three-pronged approach to tackle unlawful
peer-to-peer file-sharing.
The Business Secretary said that new laws in isolation would not
be enough to tackle the problem, which costs the creative
industries millions of pounds each year.
He called on ISPs and the creative industries to work with
Government to ensure a package is put in place which balances
education, enforcement and new business models to discourage
unlawful downloading.
Speaking today at the C&binet creative industries
conference, Lord Mandelson confirmed proposals set out in the
recent consultation on unlawful file-sharing would form the basis
of measures in the Digital Economy Bill.
The Government expects that warning notifications, followed up
with targeted legal action by rights holders, should be the only
enforcement action required to significantly reduce the level of
unlawful file-sharing. However the Government would have reserve
powers to issue an order requiring ISPs to invoke technical
measures. Account suspension will be an option available to
apply at the last resort for the most serious infringers.
Highlighting the scale of the problem, Lord Mandelson referred to
the music industry’s assessment that said only one in every 20
tracks downloaded in the UK is downloaded lawfully.
Lord Mandelson said:
“It’s clear that whilst unlawful file-sharing excites a strong
response from all sides, it is not a victimless act. It is a
genuine threat to our creative industries.
“The creative sector has faced challenges to protected formats
before. But the threat faced today from online infringement,
particularly unlawful file-sharing, is of a different scale
altogether. We cannot sit back and do nothing.
“We will put in place a fair, thorough process, involving clear
warnings to people suspected of unlawful file-sharing, with
technical measures such as account suspension only used as a very
last resort.
“Only persistent rule breakers would be affected - and there
would be an independent, clear and easy appeals process to ensure
that the correct infringer is penalised.”
He added that educating consumers in the value of intellectual
property rights would help to bring about changes in behaviour -
alongside innovation and new business models enabling consumers to
download content at competitive prices.
Lord Mandelson said:
“A 'legislate and enforce' approach to beating
piracy can only ever be part of the solution. The best long-term
solution has to be a market in which those who love music and
film, for example, can find a deal that makes acting unlawfully an
unnecessary risk."
In other areas, Lord Mandelson said there was a case for
copyright laws to be modernised to reflect reasonable consumer
behaviour which did not damage the sustainability of the creative
industries.
This would mean that, for example, someone who has bought a CD
would be able to copy it to their iPod or share it with family
members without acting unlawfully. Such activity is not lawful
under the current framework.
He announced ©
The Way Ahead – the outcome of a review of copyright in
the UK with recommendations to simplify complicated copyright laws
across Europe and beyond, allowing for greater access and
increased freedoms.
The review was led by David Lammy, Minister of State for Higher
Education and Intellectual Property.
David Lammy said:
“I want people to have the freedom to enjoy music, books and film
in creative ways, without fear of breaking the law.
“This is not an excuse to infringe copyright through unlawful
file-sharing, but is about being able to do more with legally
obtained content, such as remixing music and mashing-up content to
create grime and hip-hop tracks.
“I don’t want to see a regime based on arbitrary rules, but a
system that recognises how consumers behave at a time when we rely
increasingly on technology in our everyday lives.”
Notes to Editors
1. Speaking at the C&binet creative industries
conference, Lord Mandelson called for a three-pronged approach:
· Working with ISPs and the creative industries to educate
consumers that unlawful file-sharing is not a victimless act and
is a genuine threat to the creative industries.
· The development of commercial models by rights holders in
collaboration with Internet Service Providers to offer digital
content legitimately, and at the best price for consumers.
· A thorough notification process, backed by the possibility of
imposing technical measures, aimed at those who persistently
engage in unlawful file-sharing.
2. Lord Mandelson also reassured ISPs that they would not be
expected to bear the full cost of implementing and delivering the
notifications to suspected infringers. A flat fee per notification
will be set, payable by the rights holder, in a way that
incentivises both rights holders and ISPs to keep the process
efficient and cost effective.
3. The Government will publish its response to the consultation
on unlawful peer-to-peer file-sharing in parallel with the Digital
Economy Bill, in late November.
4. Full details on © The Way Ahead can be found at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-strategy-digitalage.pdf
5. The Digital Britain Report, published in June 2009 is at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/building-britains-digital-future
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