Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has spoken about the government’s plans to deal with file sharing amid discussion on the impact it has on the music industry.
Britain makes great pop music. From The Beatles onward the nation has thrived on producing forward thinking pop, taking new trends and re-fashioning them in our own image.
Which is why the discussion over file sharing is so important to the British economy. With the music industry suffering many artists have been complaining that the growth in internet piracy is affecting the way new talent develops.
Recently Lily Allen posted a new blog in which she slated file sharing, arguing that the government’s plans to cut off the internet connections of those who illegally upload files – while harsh – could have its benefits.
Muse singer Matt Bellamy wrote to the ‘Smile’ singer claiming they should meet with government officials. Now the Business Secretary has come to them, with Lord Mandelson outlining his position on file sharing.
In a recent report on Digital Britiain the government outlined proposals to punish those who illegally upload files, but in a new statement Lord Mandelson claimed these measures would only be used as a last resort.
Speaking during a trip to the Brit School in London the government minister said: “We believe that temporary account suspension as a last resort in the most serious cases, is worth considering to allow these new business models to develop”.
“Downloading somebody’s work without paying for it – whether it be music, film or computer games – is not a victimless act,” Mandelson said. “It poses a genuine threat to our creative industries and to the livelihoods of talented, hard-working people striving to get a foothold in them.”
“In the end this problem will be solved not simply by new laws but by new approaches to doing business” he admitted.
