Woooo Hooooo and I'll even throw in an Alleluja! (if I could spell it).
I signed a petition some months ago regarding the use of format shifting in the UK.
I have just received an email from 10 Downing Street stating:
You recently signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to
"create a new exception to copyright law that gives individuals
the right to create a private copy of copyrighted materials for
their own personal use, including back-ups, archiving and
shifting format."
The Prime Minister's Office has responded to that petition and
you can view it here:
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10776.asp
Prime Minister's Office
Petition info:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/privatecopy/
The response:
As you may be aware, in December 2005 the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced that there would be a review of the intellectual property framework in the UK, led by Andrew Gowers.
The findings of this review have now been published and recommend the introduction of a private copying exception for the purposes of format shifting. This would allow individuals to copy music which they have legally bought on compact disc onto an MP3 player without infringing copyright.
The Government welcomes this recommendation and is currently considering how such an exception should be created in UK law.
Well, blow me down with a feather!