The UK’s two main music organisations have bemoaned Lord Carter’s coy, cumbersome, interim Digital Britain for encouraging them to “sue consumers”. The report doesn’t actually make that recommendation in so many words (see our summary and P2P breakdown), but a vacuum left on enforcing customer warnings is causing concern. And the criticism doesn’t stop there…

SEE ALSO: Digital Britain On P2P: More Warning Letters, More DRM, Enforcement Issue Fudged

—Feargal Sharkey, CEO, UK Music: “We do not believe that the form of intervention proposed by today’s Report – suing consumers - is the best way forward. Obviously, there is a need for greater dialogue over coming months.”

—Geoff Taylor, CEO, BPI:  (“It’s) a step forward ... but what we need is a bold stride. Requiring ISPs by law to inform their customers about illegal activity is ... welcome. However, it is hard to see how letter-sending alone will achieve the aim of significantly reducing illegal filesharing which the government has set itself.

“Consumer research shows that filesharers are only likely to change their behaviour if they know that letters are the first step in a process and further action will be taken by service providers. The Interim Report proposes targeted legal action against the most significant infringers - but few people believe that the answer lies in suing consumers. We believe that proportionate measures taken by ISPs would be more effective.”

—Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) CEO Sly Bailey (via HTFP):  “The thud made by the 80-page Interim Report on Digital Britain as it fell on our desks today was matched only by our hearts sinking as we took stock of its content. We are bitterly dispappointed that the report makes only passing reference to newspapers - the word is used just four times - and the crushing lack of understanding of the urgency required for changes to merger regulations in the local and regional media sector.