The UK governments Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, has today been praised after finally opening up to a meeting with opponents of his efforts to nudge broadband ISPs into blocking websites; specifically those that are deemed to be facilitating internet copyright infringement (piracy).

Construction of the controversial Voluntary Code of Practice between ISPs and Rights Holders has so far taken place behind closed-doors, which has naturally aroused suspicion. Likewise many opposing civil society and consumer groups have also been excluded from the meetings.

Thankfully all that changed yesterday when Ed Vaizey chaired a unique session that had been organised by Dominque Lazinksi of the Tax Payers Alliance and also featured representatives from the Open Rights Group (ORG), Timico's Trefor Davies, Pirate Party, COADEC, Open Digital Policy, the Featured Artists Coalition and LINX.




At the end of the meeting Ed Vaizey appeared keen to setup a meeting between the group and Rights Holders, although it remains to be seen whether that will happen. Indeed few felt that the discussion itself would result in any dramatic change of course for government policy but it might still influence it

Meanwhile Rights Holders and ISPs will continue to discuss how best to construct and implement a new system of website blocking (further details here and here). So far no agreement has been reached, with differences over costs, the legal process and legal coverage being some of the biggest stumbling blocks.