David Amess MP

Career

Member of Parliament for Southend West (since 1997) and Basildon (1983-97). 1922 Committee Executive Member. A member of the All Party Music Group. Member of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee.

Issues

Internet Censorship

Signed Early Day Motion 820 Real data services, Romford 04 March 2003

That this House expresses its deep concern at the availability of child pornography on the internet; congratulates the Romford-based internet service provider, Real Data Services, for blocking users from being able to access websites containing child pornography; and further calls upon other internet providers to follow suit, in order to track down the perpetrators of this obscene crime against children.

Freedom of Information

Signed Early Day Motion 845 Freedom of Information 06 Febuary 2007

That this House expresses concern that the proposed new fees regulations under the Freedom of Information Act would allow authorities to refuse on cost grounds a high proportion of requests which they are currently required to answer; notes that the Government's consultation document recognises that this will have a greater impact on journalists, hon. Members, campaign groups and researchers than on private individuals; considers that such changes would undermine the Act's contribution to increased discussion of public affairs, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities; and calls on the Government not to proceed with the proposals.

IP Issues

David Amess asked the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

under what legislation file sharing is regulated; what changes to such legislation are planned during the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Piracy

Tried to bring bill to establish national online piracy investigation and enforcement unit: “In conclusion, the Bill will establish a national online piracy investigation and enforcement unit to back up legislation currently under development by the Home Office to tackle online internet piracy. I welcome the Government's recognition of the problem posed by online copyright theft and the timely publication of the Gowers report. Moreover, I look forward to reading the findings of the Culture, Media and Sport Committeeon copyright theft when its report on the subject is published tomorrow. I commend the Bill to the House.” [1]

“It is therefore incumbent on the Government to do all we can to protect the property of those who create music, films and the content of television programmes, which we all enjoy, so that they can earn a living from that. It is also important to stress that those who earn a living from music, film and television are not simply the highly successful people about whom we read in the newspapers and who may earn a significant amount, but many others, who earn relatively modest wages, whether they are technicians on films, people behind the mixing desk in a recording studio or session musicians working on a record. It is important that we work with them to support them and that we do all we can to reduce the prevalence of online piracy, which is basically theft of the property that those hard-working British people create.” [2]

“To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he plans to take to combat the illegal downloading of music from the internet; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement.” [3]

“To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he has (a) taken and (b) plans to take to prevent the illegal downloading of (i) music and (ii) films from the internet; what discussions (A) he, (B) Ministers in his Department and (C) officials have had with representatives of the music and film industry on the matter since June 2007; what the (1) location and (2) duration of each meeting was; whether a record of each meeting was kept; who attended each meeting; and if he will make a statement.” [4]

Child Safety

“To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to facilitate the blocking of (a) adult and (b) age-restricted internet material by parents; what recent discussions he has had with internet providers on this issue; and if he will make a statement.” [5]

Regulation

“To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2010, Official Report, column 371W, on internet regulation, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require internet providers to divulge the contact details of persons who leave derogatory or insulting comments about others on internet sites; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement.” [6]

Prior Career

Teacher; underwriter; recruitment consultant.

Education

Bournemouth College of Technology (BSc in Economics and Government).

Other

Strongly against abortion and supports capital punishment. [7]

Contact

Iveagh Hall, 67 Leigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 1JW; amessd@parliament.uk; 020 7219 2245

Links

• David Amess MP TheyWorkForYou.com
• Debate on Illegal Music Downloading
• Wikipedia
• Website