DEB - Problems Acknowledged

Amidst a lot of criticism of the rushed Parliamentary process, there was an interesting exchange in the Commons second reading debate last night that indicates that the Government have recognised that education organisations need to be involved  in the development of codes under the Bill:

Mr. Timms:I understand the concern, expressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Alun Michael), for example, about the danger of technical measures being taken against broadband in public libraries or universities, or against public wi-fi services. I do not think that it would be right to provide a blanket exemption for those services. However, the Bill requires Ofcom to draw up a code to govern how technical measures would be applied. The code will need to recognise and address the particular position of public services and institutions of that kind. We would not regard any assessment by Ofcom, under clause 10, as satisfactory unless it took account of the impact on public libraries, universities and public wi-fi services.

Alun Michael: Will my right hon. Friend also undertake to require Ofcom to engage those bodies in designing something that suits how they work as well as meeting the clearly important requirements in the Bill?

Mr. Timms: Yes, it will be important for Ofcom to have exactly that kind of discussion, to ensure that it draws up the code that is needed.

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I'll be getting in touch with Ofcom as soon as there's a final text to discuss, to point out that the current JANET AUP provisions already more than satisfy the Bill's requirements.