Reports: Comms minister to stand down

Lord Carter, the communications minister, intends to leave the government, according to a report in The Times.

The government has not commented on the possibility, other than to say Carter is hard at work on his Digital Britain report. This report, which is due to be released on Tuesday, is the first of its kind in the UK, and is expected to outline future plans for the country's digital economy.

There are many aspects to the report but, according to the article, one recommendation will be "the introduction of premium-rate internet services that will allow users to access what they wish".

"Providers would then be expected to compensate music and film producers from a share of the additional revenue," the article said.

This approach stands in contrast to the idea of having ISPs cut off persistent filesharers — a tactic that the French recently approved but that was subsequently shot down by France's Constitutional Court.