The Federation Against Copyright Theft welcomes the Creative Britain strategy document just published by the UK government which contains many strong and positive commitments to protect intellectual property and foster a greater respect for IP and the creative industries.

The document was prepared by the Department for Culture Media and Sport in conjunction with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

In particular, FACT welcomes the commitment by the government to protect IP in the digital age, with specific
emphasis on helping IP owners and internet service providers "to reach mutually agreeable solutions" to protect content online.

To assist in negotiating such solutions, FACT has appointed an Internet Industry Liaison Officer, Howard Lamb, to work with ISPs. Howard comes to FACT from the Serious Organised Crime Agency and has extensive experience working within the Communications Service Provider community, having had responsibility for the development of policies and procedures adopted across the business sector.

FACT also welcomes the following commitments to support and strengthen the work done by the UK-Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO), specifically:
- to establish a National Centre of Excellence dedicated to tackling IP crime
- to assist with the ‘Fake Free London’ project
- to assist Trading Standards Officers to make better use of the Proceeds of Crime Act
- to work with the Association of Chief Police Officers to provide extra focus on enforcement activity
- to establish a Ministerial and industry forum to discuss and develop new ideas, issues and solutions in relation to new technology.

Story filed 27.02.08