FAST continues in its committed involvement in the development of the Digital Economy Act, having submitted its latest response to the OFCOM consultation on the Obligation Code. The code is  pivotal in guaranteeing the successful, long term implementation of the legislation.

The key concerns for FAST relate to the understanding of the working relationships that exist between the plethora of parties affected by the code. It is essential that the legal definitions account adequately for all the parties involved in order to ensure that the code is workable and is able to fully support the primary objective of the legislation, which is to protect the creative industries.

FAST welcomed the Government’s consultation on legislation to address illicit p2p file sharing. It provided a further opportunity to reflect this organisation’s commitment to lobbying for decisive and swift action in this area. The questions posed by the consultation centred on 3 keys issues in relation to obligations, notifications and costs attributed to the process. In this response FAST addresses the 3 key issues, raising questions around the content of notifications, the fund...
Read more...

The Federation welcomed the All-Party Group’s inquiry into Internet Traffic particularly given the background of the Digital Britain considerations. Given the Federation’s interest in ensuring that software intellectual property rights receive their deserved protection, our response was focused on the Committee’s question 1 which asked when ISPs should be forced to act to deal with some types of “bad” traffic and when solutions should be found elsewhere. The Fede...
Read more...

The Federation welcomed the opportunity to comment on the major points in this paper which covered the illicit peer to peer debate, the establishment of a Rights Agency and the proposal for legislative obligations and a Code for ISPs. Although the software industry is possibly not challenged as much by illicit p2p file sharing as perhaps the music industry, it still suffers considerable loss due to this activity. The Federation feels that software should be treated as a special case as it is...
Read more...

The Federation was invited to provide feedback and comment on this interim report which lays out the Government’s proposed actions in relation the advancement of broadband generally and Next Generation Access Networks. The Federation comments on relevant matters concerning it including the proposed Rights Agency, its’ remit and administration; new approaches to civil enforcement; proposed legislation requiring ISPs to notify infringers of unlawful activity and the information to be ...
Read more...

The Federation welcomed the invitation from the UKIPO to be a material stakeholder in this review but expressed some concern as to its’ purpose and hoped that it was not intended to sideline the Gowers Review of 2006. The Federation consulted with Members on the questions raised and was pleased to receive some innovative suggestions. The resulting views on the protection of software copyright, and whether the current system provided the right incentives to sustain investment and support cr...
Read more...

The Green Paper’s purpose is to stimulate debate on how knowledge for research, science and education can best be disseminated in the online environment. It aims to set out a number of issues connected with the role of copyright in the ‘knowledge economy’. In its response The Federation comments only in general terms and although encouraged that an exception for copyright is not being proposed The Federation would welcome the opportunity to affirm their position, commenting...
Read more...

Recommendation 39 in the Gowers Review suggested that if voluntary arrangements between ISPs and rights holders to deal with illicit file sharing were not operationally successful, then legislation should be considered. This consultation centred on examining the options for solutions to the problem of illicit ‘peer-to-peer’ file sharing of copyright works to take Recommendation 39 forward. In its response The Federation considers whether a voluntary MOU may be effective, the alter...
Read more...

The Federation generally welcomed the recommendations of the Gowers’ Review but two years on, were pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the report’s relevance now. In this paper, FAST lays out its views on a wide range of topics in the report including the enactment of s107A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, the inclusion of IP on the National Community Safety Plan, whether the Government’s delay in implementing certain recommendations is causing problems and...
Read more...

As part of the Data Sharing Review the Ministry of Justice sought views on two specific recommendations: that the Information Commissioner should have extended statutory powers to gain entry to relevant premises to conduct an inspection, that the organisation and persons should have corresponding duties to cooperate, and that a tiered fee system be introduced to ensure a higher level of funding to carry out the statutory duties. In its response, FAST considers and contributes commen...
Read more...

The Government is now taking forward the recommendations of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property held in 2006. As part of this, The Federation was asked to comment on the proposed changes to copyright exceptions which, amongst other matters, asked whether the format shifting exception should be limited to recorded music and films or if it should apply to other copyright works.

The Alliance's comments on the proposed changes to copyright exceptions which, amongst other matters, asked whether the format shifting exception be limited to recorded music and films or if it should apply to other works.

The Federation believes that to comply with international obligations under TRIPs and the Enforcement Directive, the UK Government must provide remedies for software copyright infringements that are ‘dissuasive’. Paying the price of the licence, as it is under the current damages rule, has no deterrent effect.

The Federation supports the amendment to Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 which will allow software intellectual property rights holders to enforce by having access to the information held, for example, by Trading Standards. This paper explains the reasons why The Federation supports this amendment.

After the publication of the Gowers Review on Intellectual Property The Federation responded to a dedicated Consultation Paper concerning Representative Actions under the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. In this paper The Federation asks the Government to continue to foster a regime which acts as an effective and dissuasive deterrent to those who are intent on infringing software intellectual property rights.

The European Commission issued a public consultation document on ‘Content Online in the Single Market' and invited the Alliance to make a submission. In their response they discuss the concerns of the Alliance over the protection of content online, whether the present environment is conducive to developing trust in and take-ip of new creative content services online, and to what extent the creative industries suffer from piracy and how they try to combat it. The response also covers thei...
Read more...

In 2006 the Government set up an independent review of the UK's intellectual property framework. This review was led by Andrew Gowers and The Federation were invited to contribute. The Federation in turn invited its members to take part so that robust legal protection for software could be maintained thereby protecting the livelihood of the software industry. This paper is the submission put forward to the Review team.

The Government commissioned a review to examine more than 60 policy areas that currently local authority regulatory services enforce and to recommend by Spring 2007 around 5 high risk national priorities.  The Federation is keen to assist in improving Trading Standards enforcement action in key areas by making recommendations on these 5 policy areas and recommends that one of these areas is ‘Trade Description/trade marking/mis-description/doorstep selling' (includes IP crime) and in t...
Read more...