---

Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I think the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, should withdraw the remarks he made about my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones. A number of us have spent many years trying to wrestle with this problem. I understand that the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, has obviously come to it relatively late. The Government have engaged in an extensive consultation to try to find the right balance between the rights of the copyright owners and the rights of the consumer. What concerns me about the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, is that a number of the things he has said about this Bill are simply not true. I am sure that the Minister will deal with that. What worries me more particularly, apart from the intention of delaying the provisions, is that despite the fact there has been extensive consultation and significant movements by the Government to try to get the right balance between the rights of the copyright owner and the rights of the consumer, no proposal comes from the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, as to how the interests of the copyright owner should be protected. It is a perfectly sustainable position that a lot of people take that everything on the internet should be free and that everyone should be allowed to download for free; most 18 to 23 year-olds take that view. I completely share the noble Lord’s view that this requires a significant educational process. The creative industries have now spent three, four, five or six years endeavouring to get a structure in place that will get the right balance between the interests of the copyright owners and the rights of the consumer, and we cannot suddenly now say, "Let us tear that up and start again". That is essentially what this amendment says. I am afraid we cannot support it from these Benches.