Minister of State for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock has taken part in a debate this afternoon on his controversial new copyright laws.
Mr Sherlock last month announced consultations for the work of the Copyright Review Committee, which is examining the current legislation to identify what he described as areas that might be deemed to be barriers to innovation.
The committee hopes to provide draft heads of a Copyright and Related Rights (Innovation) (Amendment) Bill, 2012, to implement its recommendations shortly.
One of the questions posed in the consultation paper is whether all of the amendments to the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 which are still in force should be consolidated into the revised legislation.
Mr Sherlock today shared a platform with Paul Durrant of the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Ireland (ISPAI), Tom Murphy, founder and director of boards.ie and solicitor Simon McGarr, who recently organised a petition against a statutory instrument the Minister published to amend copyright law dating from 2000.
The Minister has insisted the change was necessary to bring Ireland into line with an EU directive - a matter disputed by those opposing it.
Mr McGarr, who organised the Stop Sopa Ireland campaign, was among those invited to take part in the Digital Rights Forum at the Science Gallery in Dublin.
Mr Sherlock last night had what he described as a “change of heart” after he had earlier said he would not be on the panel unless Mr McGarr stepped down.
The Minister confirmed had told the organiser of the event that he would not take part in a panel that included Mr McGarr, saying he was responsible for causing “reputational damage to this country”.
Mr Sherlock had earlier said he did not want to share a podium with "someone who generated an online campaign that falsely compared the Statutory Instrument to the US Sopa [anti-piracy] legislation".
Today, the Minister said he wished to extend the hand of friendship to Mr McGarr and move into a more "consensus-driven space". It was time to "put the swords back into the scabbards".
Mr Sherlock defended the statutory instrument and urged people to make submissions on his copyright consultation.
It was for the Government to decide what the legislative framework would be after that consultation, Mr Sherlock said. But he said the views of those who made submissions would be listened to.
Boards.ie founder Mr Murphy said companies such as boards.ie found themselves in a limbo because of the new statutory insturment, because they were waiting for a case in which a judge would be expected to decide how the law applied.
He said his company found itself standing between its users and their ability to publish content on its website. His loyalties lay between his responsibility to his shareholders and users’ rights to freedom of speech.
Mr Murphy claimed the instrument, which was signed by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, would “kill innovation”, would scare away foreign investment and would not work.
He claimed the Minister had “conflated” the issue of the statutory instrument and the current copyright consultation.
Mr McGarr said what was important in the discussion of copyright laws was that they were a reflection of how creativity was rewarded.
He noted he did not represent any commercial interest. His interest in the debate was in ensuring that it was not lost in being pulled between commercial interests.
Mr McGarr said it was right that each party, including boards.ie and EMI should pursue its own interests. “But their interest is not the same as the public interest.”
Mr McGarr said he proposed to put together a submission on the new copyright consultation and to publish it online for people to sign up to if they wished.
Submissions on the consultation paper may be made via an online questionnaire on the committee’s website, or directly to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The closing date for submissions is April 13th, 2012.