More on the British Library's IP manifesto

Mark Chillingworth, BL demands overhaul of intellectual property law, Information World Review, October 6, 2006. Excerpt:

Microsoft and Google have joined forces with the British Library in calling on the government to radically overhaul the intellectual property (IP) law.

Meetings at both the Labour and Conservative Party conferences have added momentum to the debate and a manifesto for new legislation has been drafted.

The National Consumer Council, British Phonographic Industry and the Open Rights Group are also lobbying both the current government and the resurgent Conservative Party to modernise the law to reflect the digital age.

"The current stand-off on intellectual property threatens innovation, research and our digital heritage," said British Library chief executive Lynne Brindley....

The manifesto describes the UK's copyright legislation as "creaking under the strain" and calls for modernisation to ensure that digital content is not treated differently to printed content.

It also calls for standardisation of digital rights management (DRM), the technology used to protect digital content from copying.  "Because there are no common standards there is a notion of content being locked down," Brindley said....

The British Library's intellectual property manifesto is based on its submission to the Gowers Review. The Gowers report into intellectual property is expected this year.