Since the debate I had on regulating Internet content there have been two key developments in this area I thought I should keep you up to date with.

Culture Media and Sport Committee recommends industry should police content

Firstly, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has today called for the Internet industry to police the net and protect young people from harmful content itself.

To bring this about they recommend that websites should be more proactive in reviewing and then taking down harmful material that they host. To do this the Committee recommends that the industry should set up its own (non-Governmental) body to draw up and enforce minimum standards for policing content.

This is the most important part of the report because it firstly leaves responsibility with the Internet industry rather than looking for the Government to bring in more laws here; and secondly because it would require websites to actively screen and review content, which is something bodies like Google and YouTube have argued against. They favour a system under which they only take down material someone else, so an internet user, makes them aware of.

Whilst I welcome the Committee recommending a tougher line with the industry on this, I would worry about the lack of input from Government over what content should be taken down.

The other key recommendations in the report are:

• for sites with user generated content (such as Facebook, MySpace or YouTube) to provide ‘one-click’ links for reporting illegal content directly to law enforcement bodies like the police.
• for terms and conditions over suitable content to be made more obvious on these sites
• for social networking sites to have a default setting restricting access to personal information, so users need to take an active decision to make this public
• that the Government should look into blocking websites encouraging suicide

The Committee also recommended changes to the classification system for computer games, with age ratings, as are widespread with films, playing a greater role. The Government has today launched a consultation on the classification system for computer games which you can respond to and take part in if you wish to do so. The consultation paper and details for how to respond are at the following link:

http://www.dcms.gov.uk/reference_library/consultations/5345.aspx

The Select Committee report is available here:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmcumeds.htm

Agreement on Copyright

The second important development came earlier this month, when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) agreed to work with the music and film industries to tackle illegal file sharing. This will involve the ISPs sending out warning letters to people repeatedly sharing files in breach of copyright .

The most important issue here will be the discussions ISPs will now have with the Government on what sanctions to take against people continuing to infringe copyright and it has been suggested that this will involve blocking individual users from accessing certain sites, limiting their Internet access or suspending their Internet access.

As Chair of the Communications and Music Groups in Parliament I take an active interest in these issues, and will be working to ensure we have a solution which protects consumers and users and the music industry itself. If you have any views on these issues please don’t hesitate to contact me so I can make sure your voice is heard.

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