In a move seen as an attempt to resurrect the Digital Economy Act 2010, the BPI will meet with David Cameron on 12 September to ask for help forcing the country’s major Internet Service Providers like BT, Virgin, and Sky to sign up to a scheme that would ultimately create a database of illegal downloaders and to implement a ‘three strikes’ policy that could ultimately lead to a number of actions/sanctions could then be taken; users finding their connection throttled, further site blocking implemented, internet disconnection and “ultimately prosecution”.

The meeting comes after Ofcom put off implmenting the most draconian of measures after an unsuccessful (in part) challegenge to the legality of the Digital Economy Act. The Act came after a long road of labourious lobbying my rights-owners. In 2009 the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills (DBIS) published a paper entitled Digital Britain: Interim Report that proposed to enact legislation requiring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to notify alleged infringers of copyright as to the illegality of their conduct.

Furthermore, it recommended that ISPs collect ‘anonymised’ information on serious repeat infringers which could be made available upon production of a court order. This was followed by a series of proposals by the DBIS with the ostensible purpose of moving the UK to the “forefront of the global move towards a digital economy”.

The resulting Digital Economy Act (DEA) was passed by the last Parliament during the ‘wash-up’ period with minimal scrutiny from the Houses of Parliament and received royal assent on 8th April 2010.
Strictly speaking, ss3-15 of the Digital Economy Act amends the Communications Act 2003 to add new sections 124A to 124M, while Section 16 amends the CA by adding definitions to Sections 124N.

Contrary to popular opinion at the time, the DEA did not contain ‘Henry VIII’ powers giving the Secretary of State power to modify substantive copyright law; but the Secretary may make regulations about “blocking injunctions in respect of a location on the internet”. The explanatory notes of the DEB state that these provisions “impose obligations on Internet Service Providers.”

As stakeholders were unable to reach a consensus to an industry code, Ofcom drafted an ‘initial obligations’ regime for ISPs. The resulting ‘code’ requires ISPs to receive and process Copyright Infringement Reports (CIR) prepared by copyright owners.

Belvedere Vodka is set to launch its first ever cinema campaign in the UK, which looks to promote the brand’s product and lifestyle credentials.

Created by BBDO New York, the £300,000 campaign is called ‘A Night Out’ and is set to appear in cinemas throughout September and October.

Nick Ambridge, senior brand manager for Belvedere Vodka, said: “Belvedere Vodka is a brand with growing awareness in today’s thriving drinks category. Cinema advertising will give us national reach to help grow awareness even further.

“On average, almost 14 million consumers visit the cinema every month and by placing our new advert with the right movies we aim to efficiently and effectively target potential consumers.”

Mary Portas has said that claims by Bill Grimsey, former boss of Wickes and Iceland, that her 2011 review of the high street was nostalgic and a PR stunt to promote her TV series are ‘completely wrong’.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Portas said: “I don’t want to start a row with Bill, but it’s rubbish to say this is for my PR or my TV series. This was me going to government saying there’s a crisis on the high street and we need to do some research.

“I wasn’t paid, it wasn’t about PR or a TV series – and I’m not the one with a book out on the back of it.”

Her retort came a day after Grimsey said: “It simply isn’t good enough to just wring our hands and reminisce about the good old days on the high street. We have to work as never before to create a new, invigorated environment that will attract people into our town centres, reborn as welcoming and lively community hubs.

“Retail may not be the anchor for the high street of the future, but more footfall will surely help to drive a retail revival.”

Portas discussed her review – and the criticism it brought – while speaking at the Edinburgh International TV Festival.

At this point, she said she believes the role of the high street has been changed by the advent of digital but that its role is about “so much more than shops".

Commenting on the issue, Dan Cohen, industry expert and regional director at Tradedoubler, said: “There’s no doubt that the retail landscape has changed almost beyond recognition in the past decade, but suggesting knocking them down to make way for additional housing developments is a sign that the government has conceded defeat when it comes to the regeneration of the British high street.

“It’s unquestionable that many retailers are still struggling, but what they need is help to adapt to the current climate & the changing way in which consumers interact with brands and how they shop, rather than being forced out of their bricks and mortar stores. It’s true that without a digital presence, retailers will fade away very quickly but the solution is to help them create a multi-channel strategy.

“Tradedoubler’s own research shows that 60 per cent of connected consumers use their smartphones whilst out shopping to look-up information on a product they see in a store and check for better prices elsewhere. Retailers need to accept and embrace this change in consumer behaviour, and use technology to implement a seamless approach to their customer experience, whether this is online, in-store or on mobile. If they do, they’ll find themselves in a more positive position to really appeal to customers that are more fixated on price rather than particular retail brands.”

Theo Luke has left his head of digital role at Simon Cowell-owned Syco Entertainment to become partner developer manager at Twitter’s strategic advertiser programme, Amplify, in the UK and EMEA.

Luke will head up Twitter’s strategic partnerships through the Amplify service, which provides an in-tweet promotion service for advertisers. Amplify recently struck its first EU partnership in France with TV channel TF1.

He said: “I’m very excited to be joining Twitter at this time. Twitter Amplify has created a virtuous ecosystem for users, media companies and brands. I’m looking forward to helping accelerate Amplify’s growth across Europe.”

Luke spent seven years at Google as partner manager at YouTube before joining Syco, and prior to that spent a year in broadcast journalist at BBC Radio Bristol in 2005.

Kevin Glancy Limited, which sources tableware and accessories for private yachts, aircraft and residences, has unveiled a new brand positioning with The if agency.

The if team was briefed to create an overall brand positioning for the company using the manifesto ‘Uncompromising Passion’, as well as advertising, a website and comprehensive suite of supporting marketing collateral including; presentations, literature, business cards and stationery.

Ed King, group account director at The if agency, said: “Kevin Glancy operate in an elite industry and have a clientele who expect the very best - both in terms of service and product quality. It’s therefore essential for the company to have a brand positioning that embodies their unmatched levels of expertise and uncompromising dedication to customer service.

“We feel the new identity and collateral now perfectly reflects what Kevin Glancy delivers.”

Kevin Glancy provides a fully bespoke design and manufacture process, an exclusive service which leads to the creation of truly unique, personalised designs, tailored to precisely match the singular requirements of client briefs.

Jason Hales, sales manager at Kevin Glancy, said: “As a business, we’re passionate about our product and meticulous in our levels of service so our new brand positioning needed to fully embody this. The if agency really understood that and was therefore able to get under the skin of our organisation and the results clearly reflect that insight.”

Guinness has released a new 20” ad featuring the familiar and iconic surfing waves associated with the brand.

AMV BBDO teamed up with renowned surf photographer Brian Bielman to create the ad with footage of giant waves in Tahiti.

Nick Britton, marketing manager at Guinness Western Europe, said: “We feel privileged to have worked with Brian Bielmann to deliver this new iconic campaign, a man who himself reflects the attitude shared by the brand and its drinkers – choosing the extraordinary.”

The ad will run across UK TV and cinema until 14 October, accompanied by a two-minute making-of film on the Guinness YouTube channel and digital and static outdoor activity.

The Nickelodeon channel has undergone a refresh to coincide with the beginning of the new school year and mark the brand’s 20th year in the UK.

The refresh will support a range of new content being rolled out over autumn including Sam & Cat and The Haunted Hathways. The refresh includes ‘mash-ups’ of well-known Nickelodeon characters that will provide navigation across the channel schedule.

Tina McCann, managing director of Nickelodeon UK, said: “Having been in the UK for 20 years the Nickelodeon brand has now reached multiple generations and continues to be as fresh and relevant today as it was at launch by continuously evolving.

“The Nickelodeon brand is funny, surprising and irreverent, which is exactly what the brand refresh brings to life.”

On the brand’s website, children will be encouraged to get involved by designing their own avatars and leaving comments within a moderated environment.

Channel 4’s Gadget Man has announced the appointment of Maplin Electronics as sponsor in a deal secured by adconnection.

Launching on Monday 2 September and running until December, the sponsorship aims to position Maplin as leaders in innovation, and will include idents created by Sassy Films.

Breffni Walsh, marketing director at Maplin, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring and our associating ourselves with Gadget Man. The creative, produced by Sassy Films, communicates the amazing breadth and depth of Maplin's range and the friendly expertise of the solution providing Maplineers, making it a perfect match for Gadget Man.”

The idents look to showcase Maplin staff as having a ‘solution for everything and for everyone.’

Nick Baum, client services director at adconnection, said: “We are thrilled to have secured this sponsorship for Maplin as this marks an exciting period in the retailer’s media and marketing activity. We are confident that this sponsorship, along with the wider campaign, will effectively reach and engage Maplin’s target audience in a sustained manner.”

Rob Ramsey, partnership leader at Channel 4, added: “We’re very pleased to be working with Maplin for what is their first ever TV sponsorship. Gadget Man is an increasingly popular show that aims to provide its viewers with solutions, ideas and inspiration which reflects the Maplin brand experience.”

Researchers have unveiled cutting edge tech which harnesses the growing potential of artificial intelligence and innovative camera technology to give dieters a boost in the battle against the bulge.

Their technique would see tiny cameras embedded within the clothing of individuals, primed to take a snapshot of their dinner plates and calculate the likely calorie count of each meal.

This would surmount the long standing problem of dieters underestimating their daily calorie intake due to difficulties in totting up the total and a tendency to massage down their figures.

Detailed in the Measurement Science and Technology Journal the technique involves calculating the three dimensional shape and size of food on the plate to work out the portion sizes of everything from steak to salad

This is achieved by pairing up the resulting image with a built-in library, with a 3.7 per cent margin of error.

Scientists behind the technology say that their technique is better equipped to catalogue peoples everyday eating habits rather than current manual systems which are reliant on the dieter inputting information.

Still in its infancy the technique is reliant on a plate of standard size being used as a reference point however.

One of David Cameron’s top advisers has called on the government to reform existing sex education classes at school to teach children about online pornography.

Conservative MP Claire Perry is backing calls for a rethink of current coursework to reflect the digital age, after the NSPCC labelled present sex education practices as ‘woefully inadequate’.

This followed publication of survey results which showed that close to a third of pupils believe online pornography dictates how they should behave in a relationship. Of 601 pupils aged 11-18 72 per cent thought pornograph6y should constitute a plank of their curriculum.

Commenting in a blog post for The Telegraph Perry said: “The rise of sexting, online bullying, porn and young people documenting their entire lives on the web needs to be a core tenet of how we teach sex and relationships.”

She added that the guidance should be redrawn by sex education experts. “Rather than putting one more set of responsibilities on the shoulders of hard-working teachers, it should be possible to encourage schools to develop relationships with the many excellent charities and organisations that use trained experts to deliver the right messages to young people in appropriate and high-impact ways.”

Lego has been revealed as the sponsor of CITV's weekday breakfast programming, in a deal negotiated by ITV Commercial and Carat Sponsorship.

Hero Factory is Lego’s buildable action figure line, and the sponsorship will see a number of idents in rotation across the campaign period – from now until the end of the year - that have been specifically developed to communicate the core Lego construction element of the range.

Eloise Kurtis, brand manager at Lego, said: "It’s great to partner Lego with the biggest commercial kids’ channel in the UK. The idents look fantastic, and are a great platform to communicate the core product values and showcase the range of products available in the run up to Christmas."

Clarke Dougherty, sponsorship executive at Carat, said: "The breakfast strand on CITV is the perfect environment for Lego to effectively target their core boys’ audience. The sponsorship will ensure Hero Factory has a strong share of voice across a key time of year, helping drive consideration through the frequency of messaging."

This is Lego’s first tie-up with the broadcaster since 2008.
Dave Murphy from CITV said: "We are very excited to welcome Lego to the CITV weekday breakfast sponsorship slot. We believe the partnership is a great brand fit, and look forward to working with them to activate the partnership."

Rollasole has unveiled its latest integrated brand campaign ‘Let the good times roll’ with Chapter.

Shot by photographer Simon Winnall and brought to life by illustrator Ruth Craddock, the campaign is set to be unveiled online, as well as in magazines such as Cosmo and Company.

Matt Horan, founder of Rollasole, commented: “We’re very excited by the new creative approach. The campaign perfectly captures what Rollasole is all about: enabling you to carry on when your heels start to hold you back.”

Martin Heffernan, creative director at Chapter said: “This campaign is just the start of a strong collaborative relationship with the team at Rollasole. Everything from POS to packaging to press and online has been developed from the ground up.”

Rollasole appointed Chapter in July.

Bigballs, the upstart film producer, is seeking to shake up the industry with the launch of Line9, a fringe sports channel, as part of its aim to develop content exclusively for the internet.

Launching next month Line9 will focus on BMX racing and snowboarding and complements YouTube football channel Copa90 which has gained 375,000 subscribers since its launch last September.

Tom Thirlwall, commercial director at Bigballs, said: “We were always seen [by broadcasters] as the funny little company that does internet stuff – how sweet. But now we’re eating their lunch.

“Internet TV allowed us to have a direct relationship with audiences. Our new commissioners were the viewers themselves. We’d get a pat on the back from them instead of the industry.

“We have to appeal to the here-and-now generation. When uploading to the internet a piece of crafted footage you are always competing with the kid on his camera phone.”

Bigballs client list now includes the likes of Adidas, Red Bull and Nokia, contributing to revenue streams including advertising, brand sponsorship and commissioned programming.

Moda In Pelle, the female footwear brand, has partnered with I-Com to overhaul its website, SEO and pay-per-click strategy.

Moda In Pelle tasked the agency with developing a website that offered a better consumer experience as well as improved efficiency and usability for the Moda in Pelle team. I-Com is only in the early stages of development, building it on the Magento e-commerce platform.

I-Com has also been tasked with handling the implementation of the ongoing SEO strategy and providing pay-per-click consultation.

“We’re all very excited about the new site” explained Stephen Sumner, Moda in Pelle’s marketing and e-commerce director, “We made the decision to work with I-Com following an exercise in which we evaluated a number of agencies. The team at I-Com really understood what we were trying to achieve and came up with some great ideas for improving our web presence."

Sumner added: “Once the new website is live, we’re looking forward to implementing the SEO and marketing strategy and raising our profile online in order to connect with our customers in a way that suits their lifestyle.”

Music streaming service Spotify is seeking to sever its reliance on Apple’s iPod docks by introducing its own range of speakers.

The move will see the firm collaborate with hardware manufacturers including Yamaha, Phillips and Bang & Olufsen using the Spotify Connect brand to enable consumers to access the service directly via an embedded WiFi chip, with a smartphone or tablet required only as a remote control.

Such an arrangement means that listeners will not have their songs interrupted by incoming calls, as the speakers are detached from the phones hardware, as well as overcoming problems relating to loss of connection and buffering.

Spotify has identified what it sees as a gap in the market for high quality speakers which overcome such problems and deliver high quality sound previously limited to headphones.

Spotify will launch the new service to its premium subscribers in the coming weeks.

Omega Pharma has announced that it will spend £1m to launch Dermalex, a skincare range to provide effective and bespoke treatment options for people with rosacea, psoriasis and eczema.

Created by VCCP Health, the campaign includes print advertising, trade and consumer PR support, blogger outreach, bespoke training and POS materials for pharmacy, along with targeted consumer promotional activities.

Annelies Smits, brand manager for Dermalex, said: “It is with great excitement that we launch Dermalex, a gentle and soothing treatment option for the 10.5 million people in the UK who suffer from chronic skin conditions. These skin conditions can have a huge impact both physically and emotionally and many people struggle to manage symptoms and control flare ups using products currently available. We’ve created an innovative marketing campaign that seeks to showcase the range and help people see that there is now a treatment available freely in pharmacy that helps to control symptoms and prevent flare ups.”

Media was handled by ZenithOptimedia, while GolinHarris handled the PR.

St Ives has launched POS marketing and design company The Shop with clients such as Holland & Barrett, M&S and Britvic, with Chris Belcher appointed as creative director.

The Shop’s headquarters are in Redditch but it also has offices in London as it bids to build its team based around client needs.

Neil Jenkinson has been appointed as managing director of the firm, holding more than two decades’ experience in retail at agencies including Ogilvy Group and The Marketing Store.

Jenkinson said: “There has always been a design studio within SP and it became obvious that what clients needed was the ability to turn that design capability into an integrated offering. The Shop allows us to engage with marketing teams much earlier in their retail planning process, giving us the chance to broaden business with existing and new clients.”

Chris Belcher has been appointed as creative director, having previously held the role of design director at Bezier.

Viewster has announced the appointment of Robert Franke as director of contents and productions as the company looks to reshape.

Previously, Franke has held the role of head of content at MyVideo, where he oversaw all development of programming and content strategies to ensure content was put to its best and most effective use on MyVideo and other ProsiebenSat1 platforms. Before this, he was head of content at Viewster.

Kai Henniges, CEO of Viewster, said: “Robert joins Viewster with a brief to set us apart from the industry both in the kind of titles acquired but also in the way we reach out to the artists. Robert is already working on this and we’ll be able to disclose some of his plans soon. Robert’s experience in content acquisition and as a producer sets us on a really good footing to make Viewster a unique place for high-end video entertainment.

“Robert’s return is testament to the growth that Viewster has achieved over the last year. We are excited to have him back in the fold.”

Progressive Media International’s flagship title, New Statesman, has teamed with Respond to create a customisable ad format across its website.

The formats from ad platform Respond integrate advertisements natively into digital content without compromising consumers’ content experience.

Co-founder and CMO of Respond, Guy Cookson, said: “Throughout its 100-year history, the New Statesman has generated exceptional editorial and it is vital that ad formats do not interfere with this reputation – not least because their content and audience is so valuable to advertisers. It makes so much sense for brands to develop a direct relationship with premium publishers like newstatesman.com which attract consumers in a particular mind set when they’re engaging with unique quality content.

“The customisable quality of Respond ads means Progressive Media International can provide unique ad formats which correspond with the newstatesman.com brand, add value to direct relationships with advertisers, and provide a straightforward means of differentiation in a sector dominated by standard ad formats.”

When a user clicks on an ad, they will be taken to an immersive full screen overlay of the advertiser’s choice – whether a web page, a product microsite, an online video, a game or a form to capture consumer data.

Brad Chuck, commercial digital director of Progressive Media International, said: “Respond empowers Progressive Media International’s ad teams to create custom ad units for our direct advertisers on newstatesman.com. At times, ad formats and creative supplied by ad networks conflict with the design of publishers’ sites, so brands’ ads look and feel intrusive and dissonant.

“As Progressive Media International’s ad operations department can easily modify Respond’s ad units to create tailored yet native ad placements which follow the form and function of newstatesman.com’s design, the ad units attract consumers into engaging with brands rather than pushing advertising into consumers’ faces. This means brands can achieve impact without being overbearing.”

A report has revealed Britain will require 750,000 skilled digital workers by 2017 to support the growing digital economy, adding to concerns of a skills gap in the sector in the UK.

According to the study carried out by Development Economics and commissioned by O2, the failure to increase the workforce could cost the UK up to £2bn per year.

However, the research added that existing government initiatives were expected to generate around £7bn each year until 2017, but noted that this could be improved if government and businesses devoted more resources to digital education in schools.

The report comes a month ahead of the Bima D-Day event, which promotes digital careers to young people in the UK by connecting digital professionals from across the UK’s creative sector with schools and colleges. According to the study, around 200,000 of jobs needing filled in the UK digital industry would be best suited to younger people.

Ronan Dunne, chief executive of O2, was quoted in the Telegraph saying: “Now more than ever before, digital offers the chance to drive sustained economic recovery, but this will only be realised if we become a nation of digitally confident businesses with a digitally literate workforce.

“Businesses must proactively seek out opportunities to collaborate to maximise the digital growth opportunity and harness the potential of the next generation. As digital natives, young people possess valuable skills that will be the future fuel of our economy, but not enough is being done to harness them.”

The Drum promotes the digital and creative industries through a number of initiatives, including its support of Bima D-Day activities and through its editorial coverage of issues in recruitment, such as the Girl Guides series - you can read the latest interview with Martha Lane Fox here - which encourages more women to excel in industry.