Cowell and Pratchett support Digital Economy Bill

Simon Cowell and Sir Terry Pratchett have signed a letter to MPs urging them to support tough measures on piracy, outlined in the Digital Economy Bill.

The letter signed by three other signatories was intended to coerce MPs into voting in favour of the Digital Economy Bill, with the issue of piracy being deemed as “a matter of urgency”.

The letter states that “Digital entertainment services are beginning to take off…but for these new business models to develop, it is critical that more is done to prevent the illegal services providing easy access to free content.”

Tim Bevan of Working Chairman Films, TV producer Steven Garrett and film director Paul Green Grass were the other signatories of the letter which stated that creative industries “contribute more than 7% to the UK economy”.

The Bill controversially outlines a new system that would see Internet Service Providers cut off persistent file-sharers, which has been met with great resistance by ISPs who oppose the responsibility of policing the internet. The conservatives are also opposed to parts of the Bill which would see public money funding ITV1 regional programming.

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