[ORG PM] Parliamentary Briefing 23/11/12

Fri Nov 23 15:38:03 GMT 2012

Dear Friend,

Below is the second Parliamentary Briefing. The brief is still in beta
mode, so as ever, please provide feedback on what you would/would like to
see in this email.

Regards.

*ORG's meetings this week*

1.      Peter spoke at the Westminster Policy Forum on legal access to
copyright material, with Susie Winter of the Alliance for Intellectual
Property and Cliff Fluet from Lewis Silkin, chaired by The Earl of
Erroll. His talk focused on the need for policy makers to listen to
creators' voices, not just trade associations representing them, and talked
about why we believe an exception to copyright for parody is a good
idea. Ofcom also announced the latest delays to the Digital Economy Act.
The Treasury are looking at the costs of the scheme and whether it complies
with rules over the management of public money. Ofcom do not know how long
this delay will last. As a result, it is expected that letters will not be
sent out as part of the scheme before mid-2014.

      Ofcom also released new research regarding copyright infringement.
The key points covered included:

   - One in six (16%) UK internet users aged 12+ were estimated to have
   downloaded or streamed/accessed at least one item of online content
   illegally over the 3 month period May-July 2012
   - 16% of responders said they would stop unlawful file-sharing if sent a
   letter about it by their Internet Service Provider.
   - 44% claimed to be either ‘not particularly confident’ or ‘not at all’
   confident in terms of what is legal and what isn’t online.
   - Those who consumed a mixture of legal and illegal content claimed to
   spend more on that type of content over the 3-month period than those who
   consumed 100% legally or 100% illegally.

     The Ofcom report can be accessed
here<http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-research/online-copyright/Intro.pdf>
.
     ORG's reaction is available
here.<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/press/releases/sobering-lessons-for-the-government-from-the-latest-ofcom-research-on-copyright-infringement>

2.       Peter spoke at the Bird & Bird 'Copyright
Wars'<http://www.twobirds.com/English/Events/Pages/copyrightwars23nov.Aspx>
seminar,
covering the Digital Economy Act and website blocking injunctions. We set
out why these are issues that affect citizens' rights, and why we want to
do more to intervene in legal cases affecting digital rights. We also
argued that many of the problems reflect policy makers' failure to properly
consider citizens' rights when making policy.

3.   ORG is currently coordinating lobbying in preparation for the vote at
ITRE<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Industry,_Research_and_Energy_(ITRE)>
on
29/12/12 regarding the PSI
Directive<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/PSI_Directive>
. ORG is pushing for open access to public domain documents in libraries
and archives and the promotion of open formats, instead of
dubious 'technological neutrality' formulations. ORG is also fighting broad
exceptions for higher charges and exclusive agreements - we are concerned these
will take the edge off the drive towards open data. Further information on
the Directive is available on the EU Parliament
webpage<http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2011/0430(COD)#tab-0>,
and ORG's analysis of the proposed changed to the PSI initiative is
available here<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/analysis-of-proposed-changes-to-the-eu-psi-directive>
.

*Committees*

Private Sessions have been held for the Draft Communications Bill Joint
Committee, as they look to finalise their report. Publication is due before
the end of November.

Links: ORG Wiki<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Communications_Data_Bill>

An evidence session was held by the Culture Media and Sport Select
Committee as part of their inquiry into support for the creative
industries. The inquiry has drawn a wide range of written evidence from a
number of stakeholders, andoral evidence sessions to date have involved
members of the Design Council and Pinewood. A list of the written evidence
is available here<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/suppcrec/contents.htm>,
and the oral evidence is available through the Wiki
page<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/CMS_Select_Committee#ORG_Response>.
ORG’s response to the CMS committee’s enquiry on the creative economy is
also available<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-cms-committee-creative-economy>
.

On 14/11/2012 there was an Online copyright infringement roundtable
with Minister Ed Vaizey at DCMS. This continued ongoing discussions about
new voluntary, private enforcement measures, including action on ad
networks, search results and work by the City of London Police that is
funded by the music body BPI. It appears there is no new consideration of
due process or the affect of the proposals on citizens, or indeed anyone
outside that room. The minutes of this meeting are available
here<http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/2012_11_14_roundtable_minutes.pdf>
.

Links – ORG Wiki<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/CMS_Select_Committee#ORG_Response>

*Legislation*

Government Bills**

The Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill has been submitted to a Grand
Committee, scheduled for 03/12/12.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill has relayed his intention to oppose Clause 57 and
Clause 58.

The Bill’s progress can be followed through the Parliament UK
Website<http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/enterpriseandregulatoryreform.html>
.

Links - ORG Wiki<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Enterprise_and_Regulatory_Reform_Bill>

*Midata*

The Government has released its response to the Midata consultation. It can
be found here<http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/midata-review-and-consultation?cat=closedwithresponse>
.

*International developments*

The World Conference on International Telecommunications of the ITU
conference is fast approaching. Dominique Lazanski of the TaxPayers’
Alliance discussed the proposals and the ITU itself – the podcast can be
found here<http://soundcloud.com/openrightsgroup/dominique-lazanski-october>
.

The EU published its position on the WCIT last week. It called on the
Council and Commission to ensure that any changed to International
Telecommunications Regulations were in line with the EU Acquis
Communautaire. The EU also bemoaned the lack of transparency and
inclusivness surrounding WCIT-12, and suggested that an international body
should not regulate national governments affairs. Most importantly, they
suggested that any outcomes of the conference should be non-binding. The
full resolution can be accessed
here<http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P7-RC-2012-0498&language=EN>
.

The website .nxt has published all of the documents relating to the WCIT.
You can find them all on their
website<http://news.dot-nxt.com/2012/11/23/why-we-are-making-all-wcit-doc>,
along with an explanation of why they are making the files available.

Links - ORG Wiki - ITU <http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/ITU>

The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the WIPO met on
19/11/2012 to further discuss international print disability exemptions.
Webcasts and transcripts of the meeting are available
here<http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=25024>
.

The position of the EU, and consequently UK, has been attacked over its
reluctance to part from the Berne Convention and the 3-stage process. Key
criticisms include can be found on the wiki, and also on KEI.

Links - ORG Wiki - WIPO <http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/WIPO>

          Knowledge Ecology International <http://keionline.org/>

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast
met on Thursday to try and conclude arrangements on the Canada-EU Trade
Agreement (CETA). De Gucht said "It's clear that there has been significant
progress but some important work remains to be done." The key
issues<http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/11/21/pol-ceta-canada-europe-trade-list.html>
surrounding
the agreement include tariffs and copyright.

Links – ORG Wiki - CETA <http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/CETA>

*Other Developments*

The Creative Industries Council recently appointed Nicola Mendelsohn as its
new Industry Chair. The full article can be found
here<http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/9538.aspx>
.

Links - ORG Wiki - CMS
Committee<http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/CMS_Select_Committee#ORG_Response>

*
*

*ORG Contact Details*

Communications Data Bill campaign - Javier Ruiz Javier at openrightsgroup.org

Copyright & Government Consultations - Peter Bradwell
peter at openrightsgroup.org

Executive Director - Jim Killock jim at openrightsgroup.org

Parliamentary monitoring - Ricky Shah -
parliamentary.monitoring at openrightsgroup.org

Have we forgotten something? Let us know at
parliamentary.monitoring at openrightsgroup.org.
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