Silicon Roundabout

Cameron Aims to Make the UK More Google Friendly

Chuck Ansbacher | Tuesday 15 March, 2011 11:30

In many silicon circles, it’s taken as an article of faith that if Google had wanted to get its start in the UK, and not America, it wouldn’t have been able to. The story goes that in the UK, stifling copyright laws would have put a choke hold on the type of information curation that Google has become famous for providing; every time Google would have provided search results for one of their users, they would have opened themselves up to copyright infringement.

How widespread has this belief become? Don’t take my word for it, just ask David Cameron:

“The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain. The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot of all the content on the internet at any one time and they feel our copyright system is not as friendly to this sort of innovation as it is in the United States.”

Hey, that’s what I said! But unlike me, Cameron is in a position to do something about this. The PM has ordered a review of all of the UK’s intellectual property laws, and has ordered a new copyright regime “fit for the internet age.” The hope is that such relaxation would lead to a more robust and entrepreneurial startup scene — one that creates 21st century jobs, and grows the economy.

Sound fun to everyone? Yes! Everyone, that is, except for the music industry. That industry, which has been the internet’s greatest booster since day one and has arguably benefited more than any other industry from the ease of distribution and content sharing that the open information system has given birth to, is not all for what Cameron is proposing. By a long shot.

Companies such as Google want to “eat the lunch” of the people who actually create popular works, says Mike Batt, the deputy chairman of the BPI, the record industry trade body. “The review terms of reference are completely biased towards Google, the ISPs and anyone who wants to set up an internet company. Weakening copyright won’t create a Silicon Valley here. It will hit the small music publishing and film outfits that create value for the economy by producing content.”

Feargal Sharkey, the chief executive of UK Music, argues that under the current copyright law, legal music download “startups” are flourishing, with 72 competing sites generating £350m in sales last year. He warns of the danger of taking “50,000 jobs from the music industry to create 20,000 in technology”.

In truth, it’s hard to know which side to take seriously here. Google, while one of the most powerful internet-based multinationals in the world, is also one of the most beloved. The music industry, on the other hand, is a shell of its former self and has endeared itself to its customers by suing them. That doesn’t mean those in the industry don’t have a point — it just means that there are no sympathetic ears lying around to loan them.

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