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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have already reminded the House of the Government’s concerns on the legal status of Clause 18 and the lack of transparency and accountability with which it has been inserted into the Bill, and I have indicated our intention to bring forward a revised provision to deal with these problems. The usual channels will be dealing with that in the wash-up, when it has to be done by agreement. I also reassure the noble Earl, Lord Erroll, that we will ensure that the government amendment is compatible with the e-commerce directive. These amendments seek to respond to a further concern: the need to ensure that search engines are not inadvertently affected by the measures proposed in this clause. The amendments highlighted potential risks that the service and public benefit offered by search engines may be at risk if, in the course of providing search results, they happen to inadvertently feature copyright-infringing material. The amendments proposed by the noble Earl, Lord Erroll, rightly address important points. Moreover, they underscore my initial point that this is a measure that needs careful design. Again, a power for the Secretary of State to bring forward regulations to achieve the desired affect would allow for the full consultation, analysis and consideration necessary to ensure that we avoid these and other potential unintended side-effects or consequences. As I said in relation to the previous group of amendments, given that we do not believe that this clause as drafted could be legally enforceable, amending it is not particularly productive. In light of these comments and the assurances that I have given, I hope that the noble Earl withdraws his amendment.