UK Government continues to pressure ISPs for Internet filtering

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)

On 8 January 2008, at the launching of the government consultation on new
copyright exceptions, Lord Triesman, the UK minister for intellectual
property, threatened the ISPs with the introduction of new legislation to
force them to block illegal filesharing in case they cannot find a voluntary
agreement together with the music and film industries by the end of summer.

Referring to the Government’s attitude towards illegal filesharing, Triesman
said “We’re not prepared to see the kinds of damage that will be done to the
creative economy,” and regarding the ISPs he added in an interview for The
Register “There is no objective reason why they (rights holders and ISPs)
cannot arrive at an agreement. Whether they have the will to do so is
another matter.”

According to a spokesman for ISPA, the Internet providers’ trade
association, some “good meetings” have taken place between the association
and film rights owners, but he did not give any specific details on the
results.

Triesman also declared that the UK government was collaborating with the
French Government on the anti-infringement legislation that proposes the
creation of an enforcement body to which the French ISPs will hand over
filesharing data. “The French are plainly very serious about this, it’s
really interesting. We will actually do quite a lot of work alongside them –
not necessarily to reach exactly the same objective, but I think we’ve got
a desire to share evidence and analyses. There’s no point repeating each
other’s research.” said the minister.

The consultation launched on 8 January introduced five recommendations
proposing a relaxing copyright enforcement for research and education
purposes, to enable distance learning and whiteboard tuition, to allow
libraries to make a copy for archive purposes where the copyright holder
can’t be found and to allow an exemption for the purposes of “caricature,
parody or pastiche”.

The UK Government also proposes a “format shifting right” meaning that the
consumers should be allowed to make copies of copyright material they’ve
already bought, but puts a limit to DRM circumvention which should be
permitted only for academic and research purposes, but not for the general
public for entertainment.

Among other comments during the launching, a member of the International
Music Managers Forum emphasised the fact that DRM on music is almost dead
and is hated by consumers.

The first stage of the consultation is open until 8 April 2008.

Government piles filesharing pressure on UK ISPs (8.01.2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/triesman_isps_legislation_timetable/

Consultation on proposed changes to copyright exceptions launched
(8.01.2008)
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/01/08/consultation-on-proposed-changes-to-copyright-exceptions-launched/

CD copying OK, DRM circumvention not OK (8.01.2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/copyright_reform/

EDRi-gram: Filtering the Internet – new request of music and film industry
(19.12.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.24/internet-filtering-music