£20 broadband levy will fund body to stamp out music piracy

THE internet industry was given the go-ahead today for a £20 levy for every broadband connection in a bid to stamp out music and movie piracy.

The charge would fund a quango set up to curb losses to the recording and film industries from illegal downloads. The body would also provide data about serial copyright breakers to music and film companies if they obtained a court order. Communications minister Lord Carter's proposal, in a report on "Digital Britain", is at the heart of plans to create jobs by boosting broadband take-up.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham told MPs: "We will only maintain our creative strength if we find new ways of paying for and sustaining creative content in the online age."

But shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "A new quango and extra taxes seem a bizarre way to stimulate investment in the digital economy."