Clause 47 - Matters to which general conditions may relate
Communications Bill
12:15 pm
Mr John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No.126, in
clause 47, page 47, line 5, at end insert—
'(h) conditions requiring devices used to reproduce, convert, retrieve or access data or content through electronic communications networks or services to include technological security systems in compliance with such standards as OFCOM consider appropriate for protecting personal data, protecting copyrighted content and empowering parents to protect children from harmful content.'.
To some extent, we had this debate when we considered the general duties of Ofcom under clause 3, but it is worth returning to briefly because it is a point of huge importance. The amendment is a probing amendment but it is designed to get on the record the importance of the whole issue of copyright. The Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting, who responded to our debate on clause 3, is no longer with us. We now have a Minister from the Department of Trade and Industry—a Department that in many ways has a lead role in dealing with issues of copyright. I am therefore keen that the Minister should have an opportunity to respond to my brief contribution.
There is no doubt that at the moment the threat to copyright is most significant in the music industry. That is not covered by this Bill and we do not argue that it should be, but over time that threat will affect more and more of the creative industries. When we eventually achieve broadband or even broadband plus, extremely fast download speeds will enable people to access video streaming with perfect reproduction of films. There is a danger that the film and video industry will be subject to the same problems as those suffered by the music industry. People will access and take material off the internet for which they do not pay any charge to the person who has created it, thereby bypassing the copyright requirements.
Our main concern is that the Bill, which is supposed to set the framework for many years to come, seems not to recognise that real danger and does not allow Ofcom any remit to take account of future technological developments. I do not want to press the amendment because I do not think that it is necessarily the right approach, but I hope that the Minister will be able to say a word about it. It is an important issue.