andrewducker | Telecommunications communication

I emailed a bunch of MPs and MEPs about the telecommunication bill a few months back and the replies have dribbled in. This one is interesting:

The Government appreciates concerns about attempts to remove Amendment 138 from the EU Telecommunications package. The UK has taken a clear line during negotiations that, while we acknowledge the importance of respecting rights online and including Intellectual Property rights within a peer-to-peer file-sharing environment, the Telecommunications Package is not the right place to consider these issues. The Government has therefore supported a text free of requirements on intermediaries to take action to protect or co-operate with protecting copyright material.

The Government acknowledges that the problem of copyright infringement is a serious one; acting as a real barrier to the development of compelling new business opportunities. The Government has been working with rights holders and ISPs in the UK on ways in which this can be tackled, through a combination of education, promotion of new legitimate offers, the testing of a notification regime and investigation of new methods to address repeat infringers. The Government hopes that the results of these efforts will be made available in early 2009.

(bold bit highlighted by me)