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Opposition MP calls for copyright action

June 21, 2013

By Colin Mann

Former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has accused present incumbent Maria Miller of being in the pocket of Google, complaining that the government has not enforced legislation to combat copyright theft.

In a question to Miller in the UK’s House of Commons, Bradshaw said: “Copyright theft costs our writers, artists, musicians billions of pounds a year yet three years ago this House legislated for action to tackle that. When are you going to show you are not in the pocket of Google and the other Internet Service Providers and do something to enforce the will of this House and enforce the law?”

In her response, Miller said: “You will know given you had my job in the previous government that the legislation put in place requires a great deal of working through in the detail. It is something that is a huge priority for this Government and I can assure you that we are working very closely on making sure that the copyright support is in place as soon as possible.”

The Digital Economy Act 2010 was rushed through during the last days of the parliament when a General Election was called. At the time, critics warned that insufficient scrutiny had been given to the measure, warning that its implementation could prove problematic.

Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy, Rights