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You'd be forgiven for thinking that there'd been a changing of the guard at the post of intellectual property minister - or that the role had been scrapped altogether. But David Lammy's one of men who's quietly kept his position while the likes of wantaway Digital Britain architect Lord Carter and ex-Culture Secretary Andy Burnham have seen their former responsibilities reshuffled. And, despite Lord Mandelson's moves towards tough new anti-piracy legislation, it's refreshing to see he's not changed his tune.

Way back in April - when work on the Digital Britain report was being overseen by the Government rather than being overlooked by it - Mr. Lammy was flying the flag for the little guy in the copyright debate. “Copyright has largely been the domain of lawyers and of creatives, or professionals like teachers,” he said. “We are moving into an environment where so many people have to be aware of being on the right side of the law, but at the moment accessing those rights is not a straightforward process for the consumer.”

Now it's September and the same standard he raised in spring is still flying high, despite the clear change in the UK's digital policy regime. "Many otherwise law-abiding people believe they are causing no harm when they buy or download illegal copyright goods," he says. "They think that creators and business have already been well paid for their work. I want us to reach out to those people. To take to them the message that what they're doing is wrong."

Lammy has been flying his flag abroad, speaking at the Motion Picture Association of America. But, just in case, he took a list of proposals for the UK's new Mandelson-led online future with him too (after the National Health Service was painted as being pseudo-Communist by vast swathes of the US media in recent debates over healthcare reforms, who knows how a soft UK stance on piracy would be caricatured?) "We're not standing still," he declared. "New work against illicit P2P filesharing, including possible suspension of internet access for persistent infringers, and increased penalties for IP infringement, online and offline. We are sending a clear message: when it comes to piracy and infringement, digital is not different."

But Lammy's personal stance appears to have remained more nuanced than that of dark Lord Mandelson. "Tackling supply isn't enough. We need to tackle demand as well," he told his audience. "Consumers, and that means anyone with access to a computer or a cellphone, have taken a look at copyright and don't like what they see. That creates challenges for you in the film industry and for government. Something isn't right with copyright. Not just in the UK but as a whole. And I want to do something about that."

While he echoes his Prime Minister Gordon Brown by hinting at saving the world - here from a copyright catastrophe - at least he is being proactive: consulting with the likes of Google, Universal and telecoms firms. His conclusion: "the mechanisms by which copyright operates are too complex." So what's his way forward? You can imagine how things might have went:-

LAMMY: "If we provide the right combination of enforcement, education and forward-looking policy we can build a culture that provides consumers with legitimate access to the content they want."

AUDIENCE: [Confused stares.]

LAMMY (quickly): And "continue to put policies in place that make IP infringement easier to detect and sanctions harder to avoid!"

AUDIENCE: [Rapturous applause.]

[THE END]

Further details at [The Guardian] & [Billboard.biz]