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Fast Federation Against Software Theft David Cameron

FAST welcomes David Cameron’s endorsement of IP infringement education push

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

December 2, 2014 | 2 min read

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has welcomed prime minister David Cameron's endorsement of a recent report highlighting the need to drive education and awareness around intellectual property (IP) copyright infringement in schools.

The Copyright Education and Awarenes report was researched and produced by Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade Mike Weatherley, who was also former IP adviser to the prime minister.

The report outlined the need to incorporate IP education into the school curriculum, while increasing measurement of how IP is perceieved by the general public.

Alex Hilton, chief executive, FAST, commented: “We are a service driven economy and intellectual property sits at the heart of this. The IT, software and computer services sector accounted for the employment of 791,000 people in the creative economy in 2012, which is 31 per cent of the total UK creative economy employment, having increased from 11.6 per cent in 2011.

"It’s encouraging that from the highest level, the government is committed to developing and enforcing legislation that will help to protect and support the creators of content.

“Education must be one of the main priorities and this means educating both businesses and consumer; stealing digital intellectual property is the same as stealing physical property, hence it must be appreciated, financially valued and protected. This should be underpinned by fair and reasonable IP law where legislation and enforcement meet to foster growth, protect and deter.”

The report was published in October and focused around nine core themes, detailed below (source: FAST):

  • A step up in the coordination of IP awareness programmes, led by the IPO
  • Greater measurement of IP perceptions and behaviours
  • Incorporating IP education in the school curriculum
  • The BBC to create a copyright education programme
  • Emphasis on better, clearer information on IP education
  • Making better use of technology
  • Introduction of an IP/Education coordinator
  • Emphasis on reporting outcomes across government
  • The IPO to coordinate an inclusive steering group to deliver a robust programme of IP respect throughout the country
Fast Federation Against Software Theft David Cameron

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