So, the previous bunch of bastards (Labour) tried to get through clause 43 of the Digital Economy Act 2010 which would open up orphan works to the world removing the need for those wishing to profit off them to do anything other than pay lip service to finding the copyright owner.
My MP at the time (David Heathcoat–Amory) couldn’t be bothered to vote on the third reading. His party worker during the election failed completely to even know the voting record of his candidate or explain why he was voting in the way he did.
Tessa Munt, note that your voting record is under the spotlight for me as well, particularly your habit of being “absent” for anything contentious.
The tories at the time decided that Clause 43 was a bad thing, and agreed with the other lot to support the bill in return for the clause being dropped.
Which makes today’s news surprising, or possibly not, in that they’ve now pushed through the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act which contains clauses which do exactly the same thing, yet more proof if we needed it anymore that the big three will pass the same laws regardless of promises made during elections.
Oh and guys, don’t any of you dare claim you had or didn’t have a mandate for something, we’ve seen with the NHS and Gay Marriage stuff that you’ll claim both depending on which way you want the argument to go.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Economy_Act_2010
[2] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/29/err_act_landgrab/