Hugo Swire MP

Hugo Swire MP for East Devon (Conservative) was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001.

Issues

Copyright

Term Extension

Wants the copyright period for music protection to be extended from 50 years to 75 years. Westminster Hall debates Hugo Swire Wednesday, 17 May 2006 Gowers Review

I am most grateful to you, Mrs. Anderson, and to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster), for allowing me to contribute briefly to the debate, and to the Minister for agreeing to that.
We all agree that sound copyright is important for all media, new and old, and we welcome the Gowers inquiry. Increasingly, we operate in a world where the vital business ingredient is intellectual property, so it is right to pursue ideas about that. I think, however, that the hon. Gentleman has somewhat missed the point given the realities of the digital age, on which I think he has rather missed out. The "use it or lose it" approach may, as he pointed out, have been relevant when companies physically produced records or CDs that then had to be produced and distributed, but we have moved on, and in the digital age of downloading in which we now live, his arguments are somewhat archaic.
In the hon. Gentleman's proposal, which is not particularly liberal and is rather convoluted, there is a danger that performers and record companies will be kept as second-class creators compared with other creators. The principle of copyright and resale rights is long established. I believe that the hon. Gentleman supported the droit de suite artists' resale right that we debated recently, which sits oddly with his comments today.
The point is surely that in future back catalogues will be online, and our idea of a blanket extension will be an encouragement to make that music available. Charging fees will become an incentive to do nothing and a licence for CD burners in China and the developing world to nick recordings.
I know that the hon. Gentleman's office has been besieged by representations on behalf of Sir Cliff Richard. My office has not, as far as I know, received a single representation on his behalf. I do not know what that says about me, Sir Cliff Richard or his fans. No doubt the hon. Gentleman will be asked to recover from the ordeal of the debate in one of Sir Cliff's many villas around the world.
Of course, I have sympathy with the hon. Gentleman's arguments, but I do not agree about the ratcheting up of copyright periods in Europe and the United States. I hope that the Minister agrees that it would be far easier to adopt the proposal we made during the last election, which was that in the interests of the industry—producers, consumers and originators—it would be best to make the case in Europe that the copyright period for music protection should simply be extended from 50 years to 75 years.

Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act

Trade and Industry Hugo Swire 18 June 2003 Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act.

Artists' Resale Rights

Westminster Hall debates Hugo Swire 8 November 2005 Artists' Resale Rights

Internet Censorship

Hugo Swire said that internet service providers should offer a two-tier system, with users able to pick content suitable for adults or children. With the default setting being for children, with a password or PIN needed for unfiltered material

Broadband

Written answers - Trade and Industry Hugo Swire 10 March 2003 Broadband

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department is taking to promote access to broadband in rural areas.

Written answers - Trade and Industry Hugo Swire 10 March 2003 Broadband

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what incentives the Government have offered to encourage (a) BT and (b) other suppliers to provide affordable broadband in rural communities.

Written answers - Trade and Industry Hugo Swire 10 March 2003 Broadband

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the economic impact on areas where people are unable to access broadband in the next three years.

Written answers - Trade and Industry Hugo Swire 10 March 2003 Broadband

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what projections her Department has made of the level of access to broadband by the beginning of next year.

ID Cards

Exmouth Herold 17 February 2006

East Devon MP Hugo Swire this week voiced concern at reports that people could face four-figure fines for not registering or keeping their details up to date with the proposed new ID Card Agency.

Links

News

2008-02-07 - BBC - Two-tier internet needed, MP says
'Summary: Internet service providers should offer a two-tier system, with users able to pick content suitable for adults or children, a Tory MP has said. Hugo Swire said the "default" setting would be for children, with a password or PIN needed for unfiltered material. ... A Whitehall department should create a blacklist of unsuitable sites, he said. Mr Swire called for a UK regulatory body for websites, which he dubbed the "internet standards authority", which would create the database of blacklisted sites and update this hourly. ... Among the sites coming into this category would be "glorification of violence and terrorism, pornography, cyber-bullying, suicide, internet gambling and anorexia websites", Mr Swire added.
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