The industry body representing the UK’s record companies has just announced this is already the “biggest ever year” for sales of singles in Britain. Meanwhile, figures from the Motion Picture Association of America show that movie takings are, on the whole, rising. With Lord Peter Mandelson expected to outline the Government’s plans for dealing with illegal downloading tomorrow, what price piracy?

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 kept his position while the likes of 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.

There are around seven million people engaged in illegal file sharing in the UK and, while they may be downloading songs and movies for free, the British economy is paying the price. That’s according to a new study from the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP), which estimates the cost as being in the tens of billions of pounds.

In last week’s budget the Government committed to looking at the possibility of taxing intellectual property, which it sees as a means to the end of pulling the UK out of its economic hole. In the meantime it’s trying to work with film, music, publishing and Internet companies to try and keep the rights holders [...]