Royal Assent for the 'Cable Bill'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 13th Aug 2002

Vincent Cable's Private Members Bill has completed its final passage through parliament and received Royal Assent.

It becomes law in October and will enable the police and courts to impose tougher penalties on criminals involved in the theft of copyright and counterfeiting.

Until the Bill, organised crime was heavily involved in such practices as stealing copyright and mass producing computer software, videos, CDs, clothing and perfumes. The sentences were a maximum two years in prison (reduced to one on good conduct) and under the Cable Bill the penalties will be raised to ten years.

Vincent Cable said: "it is very satisfying to have taken a substantial piece of legislation all the way through parliament, one of the few private members bills to go all the way. The measure I have brought in is an anti-crime measure which also protects consumers and helps to reduce the £10 billion or so stolen from creative artists, computer businesses and manufactures as a result."

"It will be especially useful to the software companies and designers around Twickenham. The lesson I learnt is the importance of building a strong consensus behind the Bill - I had the backing of Labour backbenchers like Austin Mitchell as well as the government, and Conservatives like Bill Cash and Nicholas Winterton sponsored the Bill".

Vincent Cable is currently visiting the main sites around London where counterfeit goods are currently sold on a big scale - on Sunday he went to Hackney Market - and trading standards officers, working with the police, will be launching raids later in the year to take advantage of the new powers.