Press release archive for August 2012

Phil Cooke made the following comments regarding the decline in GCSE results across England:

"For the first time in the history of the GCSE, we have seen a drop in passes at grade C or above. The overall drop is small at 0.4%, but significant in important subjects including English (1.5%), English Literature (2.1%) and Science (2.2%). Some schools are reporting sudden drops of 10% or more in English, despite the same departments delivering well at A level."

"In previous years there has been much talk of ”grade inflation", but the current set of results are nothing to do with raising standards or making exams more difficult. Halfway through the year grade boundaries were suddenly changed, making it harder to get a pass with the same work. Students at a C level and being assessed at a C level have ended up with a D. This ...

Ed Geraghty made the following statement regarding the developments surrounding Julian Assange's ongoing fight to avoid his surrender by the UK to Sweden:

"The current situation regarding Julian Assange in the UK seems to have reached a very strange stalemate. We are in a position where none of the parties involved, including Ecuador and the UK, appear to be willing to back down. The UK is still very much focused on honouring its obligations to Sweden whilst apparently not working hard enough to find avenues that might defuse the situation. It is beyond incomprehensible that between the UK, Sweden, Ecuador, Australia and the US no one has found a reasonable way to deal with the allegations that Julian Assange faces; choosing instead to bog themselves down in games of political brinkmanship."

Ed Geraghty made the following comments about the jailing of Russian punk band "Pussy Riot". Members of the group were jailed for two years after being convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for staging a protest in a Moscow cathedral:

"In this case in particular, the sentences are horribly disproportionate to the 'offence' and the motivation for the prosecution is incredibly suspect. Freedom of speech necessarily includes the freedom to offend; the current social, political and legal trend of pushing to legislate 'protection from offence' is not only damaging to public discourse but does very little to prevent actual threats to minority groups. This case highlights some of the problems with this approach."

Ed Geraghty made the following statement regarding Ecuador's granting of Julian Assange asylum in Ecuador which was confirmed today:

"It is clear from today's announcement that Ecuador agrees with Julian Assange's argument that his extradition would put him in danger. It may be a positive step for an Ecuador that has itself pursued crackdowns on private media and public dissent, however I hope that this is not an attempt to score political points, but a legitimate humanitarian move".

Andrew Robinson commented on reports that the Premier League has 'shut down' more than 30,000 illegal internet streams of football matches last season.

"If the Premier League stubbornly refuses to sell the fans what they want, then of course fans will find a way to watch the teams they love. Instead of playing an unwinnable game of whack-a-mole with low quality streams, surely the best solution would be to simply sell the fans the coverage they so desperately want?"

Ed Geraghty made the following statement regarding reports that Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has agreed to grant Julian Assange asylum in Ecuador:

"If these reports are accurate then it is clear that Ecuador recognises the risks faced by Julian Assange and others who seek to expose Government and corporate wrong-doing. It may be a positive step for an Ecuador that has itself pursued crackdowns on private media and public dissent, however I hope that this is not an attempt to score political points, but a legitimate humanitarian move".

Loz Kaye made the following comment on reports that Anton Vickers, the owner of TV streaming links site SurfTheChannel has been sentenced to four years imprisonment today at Newcastle Crown Court:

"The way this issue was investigated, prosecuted and the resulting sentence are, deeply concerning, inappropriate and disproportionate given the activities that Anton Vickerman was engaged in. A four year prison sentence is twice the maximum that could have been handed down if Vickers had been charged with online copyright infringement."

We must fight against a 'book famine for the blind'. Format-shifting has the potential to improve lives, but as usual the copyright cartel want to ride roughshod over the interests of the public. I believe that clear commitments from all countries to strong exemptions to copyright, whether in the area of accessibility for the disabled, format shifting or fair use are long overdue.