ORG and Cory to debate NBC Universal and the chair of the Culture Committee

Policy Exchange, a leading right-of-centre think tank, is holding a lunchtime panel debate to discuss ‘anti-piracy legislation’. Unusually, the event will question the view that Government and ISPs must crack down on filesharers and, also, is open to the public. The panel will feature Jim Killock (Open Rights Group’s Executive Director), Cory Doctorow (author and activist), John Whittingdale MP (Chair of the DCMS Select Committee) and Andrew Hall (Senior Vice-President, NBC Universal International).

Please come along if you’re in the area or can make it along so we can be sure of balance audience. Here’s the event’s blurb and details to get your name on the list:

Pirate copies and illegal downloads have been eroding the profits of some of our biggest creative industries for years. The government is keen to wade in with anti-piracy legislation. Is this a necessary response to a form of organised crime? Is it tough enough? Or are we trying to reign in digital progress, heedless of the fact that technology will keep shifting and hackers will find new ways of squeezing through the legislative gaps? Is it right to use Internet service Providers as policemen? And perhaps more fundamentally, is piracy the real issue? Do we really need to bail-out our creative industries – or do they simply need to adapt to the new world?

What: ‘Piracy: do we need to rescue our creative industries?’ Where: Ideas Space, Policy Exchange, Clutha House, 10 Storey’s Gate London, England SW1P 3AY. Get Directions. When: 1300, Tuesday February 24 2009 How: RSVP to events[AT]policyexchange.org.uk