British IP Minister Shoots Down Three Strikes Law Proposal

The copyright industry may have a brand new setback if it hopes that the Three Strikes law would take off in Europe. Intellectual Property Minister David Lammy has said that disconnecting internet users for copyright infringement was not “the right road”. Looks like the copyright industry lobbyists forgot someone while lobbying.

A report from Out-Law says that there might be a change of heart from the government on the possible law that occurred with the change in IP ministers. More from the report:

“However clear the Government’s commitment to tackling piracy we cannot, through legislation, provide anything like the whole answer to this complex area and the answer that we do find might prove to be short lived, even counter-productive if we are forced to be prescriptive, and that pushes infringement towards more difficult to detect methods,” said the Government’s consultation.

Lammy told The Observer that there will be anti-piracy legislation to back up the work of the rights agency, but that the laws must not be too specific or exhaustive.

“In the end, the solutions are going to be commercial solutions. They are going to be solutions that are about ensuring people pay for content, but the ease of paying is there,” he said.

Lammy said that solutions to the problem will also have to rely on individuals knowing more about copyright and the world of intellectual property becoming more accessible to people.

Earlier this month, the French government’s “three strikes” proposal was defeated only to, very recently, return to the French parliament. Still, the Europe-wide three strike proposal was effectively neutered through an amendment that would prevent people from getting disconnected from the internet in the telecoms package.

While the war is far from over, it seems as though supporters for the three strikes law are now, on the whole, on the losing side of the debate for now politically speaking.

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