Burnham to keep pressure on ISPs

13:12 | Wednesday December 3, 2008

Speaking at last night’s Squaring The Circle MusicTank, which was the final of four networking sessions examining alternatives to illegal file sharing, Burnham told industry executives that he is “determined to bring the issue to a conclusion”. He added that pressure will be kept on the ISPs to ensure progress with the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding does not slip.

Burnham told the networking group, which also featured contributions from Dan Klein, Detica media accounts director, Simon Persoff, Orange UK director, legal and regulatory and Richard Mollet, the BPI’s public affairs director, that the success of the MoU will be seen over a two to three year timescale and that the parties need to “find solutions which reward creators. It is in the public interest for there to be a workable system of copyright.”

He added that the creative industries and the internet are now mainstream, so the debate is changing and the need for government to have a role is becoming clearer – “the internet is not a place where governments can’t go”.

However, the minister also said that if agreement is not possible legislation still remains a real option. He said, “Let there be no doubt: we will legislate if solutions cannot be found. Full stop”.

Burnham also said the Government is still treating the extension of copyright term as a “live issue”. In response to an question on term, Burnham said, “The debate is ongoing in Europe, there is no consensus... We are very focused on getting a response which represents the industry...It is not a finished issue and is still a live process in government. We will respond in due course.”