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Mandelson makes three-strike announcement at C&binet
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 28 October 2009
So, movers and shakers from the content industries are this week enjoying the previously reported government-organised jolly in the countryside – The C&binet Forum – to discuss “access to finance for creative industries, new business models for online content, developing talent and securing creative rights”. The big headline from the shindig so far is Peter Mandelson’s announcement on three-strikes, more on which in a minute.
But first, yesterday one of the main events was EMI Music boss Elio Leoni-Sceti being interviewed by Wall Street Journal hack Patience Wheatcroft. According to Billboard, he admitted that the music industry was suffering “because of the lack of innovation at one end and because of the lack of regulation on the other”.
Dwelling on the latter half of that observation – which made sense, given expectations regarding Mandelson’s speech – he spoke up in support of a three-strike style system for combating online piracy, adding that “[the UK government] needs to legislate, so that there is a very clear reference [to copyright in the digital domain]. This can and should happen as soon as possible to clear the parameters of what is allowed”.
Asked about the carrot that can accompany the big stick of three-strikes, Sceti observed that “as long as legal models are more enjoyable than illegal ones then we’re moving in the right direction”. Which is, of course, a definite truism, though the people behind those enjoyable legal music services might wonder if Sceti therefore plans to completely overhaul his company’s attitude to digital licensing, something some argue is necessary across the record industry if Spotify-style platforms are to survive once the venture capital runs out.
The government’s IP man, David Lammy, was also on hand to give the politician’s take on the need for copyright reform. He waffled a bit about the need to simplify copyright law, to make it accommodate the nature of content consumption in the digital age, and to provide some sort of private copying right to consumers, none of which is especially controversial among either content owners, technology firms or consumer rights groups, and therefore begs the question “yeah Lammy, why you telling us this, why don’t you just do it, you muppet?” Though I’m sure everyone at C&binet was far too polite to say so. You see, this is why I should make the effort to attend these things.
He also talked about the European element of copyright reform, which is fair enough, though you can’t help thinking the line “ah, but, think about the international dimension” is primarily a delaying tactic when used by a politician. Whatever, given Lammy’s initial criticism of the three-strikes system, and the impression it is Mandleson that has led the change of heart on this issue within government, rather than Dave, I’m not sure anyone cares what Lammy’s department is doing just now. Content owners simply hope Mandelson can get three-strikes on the statute book before he, the Lammy man and the rest of their posse are kicked out at next May’s General Election.
And so to Mandleson’s big three-strikes announcement, which came this morning. We’ve all known since August that, despite previous government resistance to the three-strikes proposal, Mandelson would try and get some sort of ‘graduate response’ deterrent through parliament before next year’s Election. ie A new law that would force internet service providers to send out warning letters to those who persistently access and share unlicensed content, and to then suspend the net access of those who still continue to infringe.
A consultation has been ongoing ever since, with most of the content owners, and relevant trade unions, piling in with their support for the proposals, while the trade bodies for featured artists, songwriters, producers and their managers, alongside net firms and consumer rights bodies, expressed their concerns.
This morning Mandelson confirmed a variation of three-strikes would be in the Digital Economy Bill due to be put before parliament next month. It would become law in April 2010, and warning letters would be sent out with immediate effect (presumably to the same people who received letters through the record industry and ISP sector’s voluntary anti-piracy programme last year). If file-sharing doesn’t drop by 70% in a year – which it probably won’t – net suspensions will begin in April 2011. It would take at least three months for net suspensions to actually happen, presumably because some sort of judicial procedure and opportunity to appeal will need to take place.
According to the Guardian, Mandelson told the C&binet: “The British government’s view is that taking people’s work without due payment is wrong and that, as an economy based on creativity, we cannot sit back and do nothing as this happens. [This is] a proportionate measure that will give people ample awareness and opportunity to stop breaking the rules. The threat for persistent individuals is, and has to be, real, or no effective deterrent to breaking the law will be in place”.
As for who will pay for all this, Mandelson said he expects both content owners and net firms to contribute.
Given all the uncertainty there is in political circles at the moment, and the potential for these proposals to be tweaked, changed and loudly objected to as they hit parliament, Mandelson’s timeline – which will probably be too soon for those against three-strikes, and not soon enough for the content owners – may or may not become a reality. What is certain is there is likely to be much more debate on this issue before the year is out.
As we’ve said 4317 times before – copyright law really should be more specific on what rights copyright owners have online, and needs to provide a way to protect those rights other than the totally ineffective option of suing individual consumers. That said, even the more draconian kind of three-strikes is unlikely to actually stop file-sharing – which is increasingly hidden and offline – and the content industries should really think hard about what they have to gain, commercially, before investing too much time and money, and lost public goodwill, into the three-strike system.
