The Prime Minister’s Intellectual Property Adviser has urged the Government to consider prison sentences for those that distribute material which infringes copyright online and those that download such content.
Mike Weatherley MP, put forward the proposals detailing “some sort of custodial sentence for persistent offenders,” during last week’s debate regarding the UK’s Intellectual Property Bill, which aims to bring the law relating to IP up to date.
Mr Weatherley also suggested removing internet usage rights from offenders, as well as preventing advertising and payment facilities on websites that host illegal content. He also recommended holding internet service providers and search engines accountable if illegal content was found.
“When we get the education right and people understand that stealing intellectual property is wrong, and when the industry has alternative downloading models, if we exhaust fines and other means of stopping persons downloading illegally, we must consider some sort of custodial sentence for persistent offenders and people who operate on a commercial scale,” Mr Weatherley told Music Week.
John Leech MP urged the maximum penalty for digital infringement to be raised to 10 years in prison rather than the current two year sentence.
The Intellectual Property Bill was first introduced in April of last year.