Advanced Television

UK dilutes stand on music piracy

July 7, 2009

Ben Bradshaw, the new Culture Secretary, has diluted a pledge to cut the volume of Internet music piracy by 70 per cent in the next two years.

A promise had been made in July 2008 to reduce "file sharing by 70 per cent in two to three years" as part of a three-way agreement between the Government, Internet service providers and media companies. That target has been quietly set back, with Bradshaw writing that the two- to three-year timescale was "based on the premise" that measures to combat piracy would be "taken from July 2008 onwards". Those adopted to date have been modest.

Bradshaw said that "a more constructive approach" would be "to take as our starting point the time at which obligations on internet service providers take effect" — effectively setting the target back by at least 18 months.

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