By John Oates for The
Register.
This article has been reproduced with permission.
Chaired by MP Derek Wyatt, the packed meeting heard evidence
from the Society for Computers and Law, the British Library, Open
Rights Group, British Music Rights, AIM, the Publishers
Association, and the Federation for Information Policy
Research.
Wyatt thanked those giving evidence and said the committee had
received 92 written submissions a very large number. The
group will produce a final report, and publish the evidence, in
April.
Laurence Kaye and Gillian Cordall, of the Society for Computers
and Law, told the committee that existing copyright was good
enough, but consumers don’t have enough understanding of it. For
instance, in the UK there is no right to make personal copies of
CDs although most consumers believe they do have that right.
The law is different in mainland Europe, where consumers do have
the right.
Next up, representatives from the British Library explained
their concerns that DRM technology could stop future generations
accessing material the library is obliged to store forever. They
suggested either a trusted third party to hold information in an
unencrypted form or for DRM to be removed once copyright has
expired.
The Open Rights Group explained that the debate was not just
about publishers and copyright holders, but increasingly about
hardware and software manufacturers.
Professor Ross Anderson, chairman of the Federation for
Information Policy, told the MPs: “There’s been a radical shift in
power from the music majors to companies like Apple. A year ago
they’d have been 110 per cent behind DRM.”
Anderson said Parliament needs to look at the issue more widely.
He said we would soon see the technology spread from music to other
areas like printer cartridges and eventually car parts. Anderson
said it would be better to empower individuals to take court action
against companies rather than expecting Parliament to
legislate.
© The Register
2006
