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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, it is always good to have a former Lord Chancellor enter the lists on your behalf. I thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, because I thought that he phrased it exactly right. I know that if he suggests something, it is robust in technical legal terms. I am sure that that is the case. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, for the scenarios that he rightly raised in respect of possible delay not only to the initial notification but to subsequent notifications. The Minister initially appeared sympathetic and raised our hopes, only to dash them halfway through his speech, which was very sad. He has again demonstrated that he is a glass-half-full person. He is optimistic about the way the code will operate, but he is probably surrounded by rather more pessimism than he would like. "Trust the code" was his watchword, but the fact is that if the code is going to be created by different stakeholders, it will be like having a bunch of ferrets in a sack. Most of us, the glass-half-empty gang, if you like, believe that Ofcom will have to impose a code upon stakeholders, rather than that the stakeholders will voluntarily come to the table. I think this is one of the areas that we might well want to come back to on Report, as it is very important consumer protection. We need to have some certainty about the limit beyond which consumers should not be concerned about the possibility of copyright holders coming back to them. I understand what the Minister had to say about three months being treated as the norm, but the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, dealt with that very effectively, and I hope he comes in on my future amendments. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 112 withdrawn. Amendment 113 Moved by