Clause 3 - General duties of Ofcom
Communications Bill
6:00 pm
Mr Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
I am aware of the suggestion that there should be hardware protection of copyright. That is a potential point of conflict, and the hon. Gentleman is right to raise it. However, imagine Ofcom being expected to adjudicate on an agreement between broadcasters and television set manufacturers that only some television sets would receive certain signals. How would consumers feel if they were told that they could not use their old television sets any more? The hon. Gentleman has highlighted one of the matters about which we need more clarity. I am not suggesting that there is an easy answer, but such questions will be on the public agenda and it would be helpful to have more clarity about how Ofcom will deal with them.