This report warns that the extraordinary success of the UK's creative industries may be jeopardised by any dilution of intellectual property rights and the failure to tackle online piracy. The Committee also strongly condemns the failure of Google in particular to tackle access of copyright infringing websites through its search engine. Such illegal piracy, combined with proposals arising from the Hargreaves review to introduce copyright exceptions, and a failure to strengthen copyright enforcement as envisaged by the Digital Economy Act 2010, together threaten the livelihoods of the individuals and industries that contribute over £36 billion annually to the UK economy. Also, the Olympics No Marketing Rights scheme is excessively restrictive and is preventing British creative companies from realising the benefits they deserve from the Olympic legacy. The Committee calls for: a central champion of Intellectual Property in Government to promote and protect the interests of UK intellectual property; the maximum penalty for serious online IP theft to be increased to 10 years imprisonment, in line with the punishment for such offences in the physical world; more evidence and scrutiny before any exceptions to copyright such as those suggested by Hargreaves are applied; redoubled efforts to ensure that the video games tax credit is approved by the European Commission and introduced as soon as possible; reforms to the income tax and tax reliefs systems to recognise adequately the freelance nature of much creative work; greater recognition of the importance of arts subjects in the curriculum.

Nuisance calls, particularly unwanted marketing calls and text messages, are a bane to millions. A significant underlying feature giving rise to nuisance calls is the unfair processing of personal data, something that is proscribed by the Data Protection Act 1998. The Information Commissioner already has powers to deal with this; he should use them far more. Where regulation fails, technology has a place with a number of useful products available and standard services like caller display can also help. Caller display should be a free service and the Committee regrets BT's decision to charging explicitly for caller display. Some nuisance callers withhold their numbers or hide behind a false one. Nuisance text messages can be simply reported by forwarding them to a dedicated "short code" number (7726) and a similar facility for nuisance calls to landlines is long overdue and would provide useful intelligence to regulators. There should be a single online complaints form. Given that many people do not have internet access, there should also be a single nuisance calls helpline. The legal threshold for the Information Commissioner to take enforcement action under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 must also be lowered. A single nuisance calls regulator might have superficial appeal, but a single point of contact for customers coupled with more effective coordination between regulators - behind the scenes - is both more achievable and desirable. Above all, organisations closer to the source of marketing calls, like the Direct Marketing Association

Society lotteries are intended to be primarily a means of raising money for charities and other good causes. The vast majority are small, often local, and raise sums of money that, though not substantial, are vital for the work of the organisations they support. The Gambling Act 2005 relaxed some of the restrictions on such lotteries. This was not a cause of concern until the recent launch of some larger, 'umbrella' lotteries, advertised nationally, run by commercial operations and giving close to the statutory minimum percentage of the proceeds of ticket sales to the good causes they supported. These are controversial in part because they are alleged to stretch the definition of a society lottery as primarily intended to raise money for good causes, and in part because they are seen by some as direct competitors to the National Lottery. As a result, there have been calls for restrictions to be imposed on large society lotteries, while others have suggested the success of the umbrella lotteries could be replicated elsewhere if regulations on society lotteries were relaxed. The Committee has been guided in its approach by the principle that the regulatory regime governing society lotteries should encourage the maximum return to good causes and, provided that the lottery remains focused on its primary purpose, the licensing regime should be light, including continued exemption from gambling and lottery taxes. Accordingly, the Committee recommends greater differentiation between the regulations applied to the great majority of lotteries, which are small and local, and those applied to larger ones, especially those run on behalf of the good causes by commercial organisations, which tend to return smaller proportions of their funds to the charity than single-cause lotteries.

The tourism sector, a massive conglomeration of diverse businesses and organisations, contributes billions of pounds to the British economy and sustains millions of jobs. Yet its central role in the economic activity and life of the country is not given sufficient recognition. Too often, Government fails to factor tourism into its wider decision-making. The Committee have heard convincing evidence that the sub-national structures for supporting tourism in England were damaged by the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies without putting in place adequate arrangements for tourism promotion. With sufficient resources, the Committee believes VisitEngland is well placed to move more decisively into the organisational vacuum left by the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies and the Regional Tourist Boards. It could better coordinate the disparate efforts of some 200 local Destination Management Organisations, focusing its attention on those with most promise of developing a substantial tourism base. It could be an even better source of advice and training to the many small businesses that typify much of the tourism industry. Working with the National Coastal Tourism Academy in identifying and promulgating best practice, VisitEngland could begin the process of turning round those seaside resorts that have lost their way. The Academy is funded by the Coastal Communities Fund - a source of income for which the Committee shares the Government's enthusiasm.

The Committee concludes that the preferred candidate for chair of the BBC Trust, Mrs Rona Fairhead CBE, is a suitable candidate for the post

Media convergence is often propounded as inevitable and ongoing. Yet much of the governance of the media sector’s key parts has developed along discrete evolutionary paths, mostly incremental in character. This volume breaks new ground through exploring a diverse range of topics at the heart of the media convergence governance debate, such as next generation networks, spectrum, copyright and media subsidies. It shows how reluctance to accommodate non-market based policy solutions creates conflicts and problems resulting in only shallow media convergence thus far.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee's inquiry has focused on three disparate aspects of online content and behaviour, all of which are of widespread concern: illegal content, especially images of child abuse; harmful adult content being made freely available to children; bullying and harassment on social media. The Committee praises the work of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command, now part of the new National Crime Agency, and the Internet Watch Foundation but calls for more resources to be devoted to their valuable work. All three elements of CEOP's mission - education, social care and criminal justice - need to be actively pursued and publicised. Tracing paedophiles who share images on peer-to-peer networks and the so-called hidden internet continues to challenge both the police and the internet service providers. Legal adult pornography is widely consumed but children should be protected from viewing that material. Legal adult sites could restrict access by children in a number of ways. Age verification is important and whilst filters may not be failsafe, they continue to improve and are an important way of protecting children from harmful content. Ofcom has an important role in monitoring internet content and advising the public on online safety and more needs to be done to signpost the advice and educational resources available to both parents and teachers. Today, one in five 12-16 year-olds think being bullied online is part of life. Social media providers should offer a range of prominently displayed options for, and routes to, reporting harmful content and communications.

The Digital Single Market (DSM) comprised numerous Directives, Regulations, and other instruments aimed at facilitating cross-border digital services, including access to banking, shopping, streaming, and satellite television across European Union borders without restrictions. With one-fifth of service exports stemming from the digital sector, the DSM was vital for the UK, with the EU representing its largest digital services export market. Brexit and the Digital Single Market examines the important historical role of the UK in DSM development, the consequences of Brexit for the UK's digital sector, and future EU and UK policy trajectories. The book illuminates how the UK continues to innovate in the digital sector but also how it is constrained by external factors both at EU and global levels. It considers how EU policy is taking a new direction in its 2020 Digital Strategy programme which leans towards greater protection of European champions and digital sovereignty, a tightening of its data protection regime, and greater regulatory intervention in digital markets. Timely and unprecedented, Brexit and the Digital Single Market is the first volume to comprehensively cover the implications of Brexit on the EU's DSM. This is an essential read for students and academics in political science and law, as well as civil servants, regulators, and policy makers working within the digital sector.