There are two petitions that are currently in the mix and are both ones that should be signed by people far and wide.  Please do your part…

1) The UK Government are about to propose restrictions on photography in public places which could make street photography and documentary photography against the law.
There’s a petition on the Downing St website against the Government’s proposals to restrict the use of photography in public areas. Go to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Photography/ and forward, if you are so inclined ….

There are a number of moves promoting the requirement of ‘ID’ cards to allow photographers to operate in a public place.
It is a fundamental right of a UK citizen to use a camera in a public place, indeed there is no right to privacy when in a public place. These moves have developed from paranoia and only promote suspicion towards genuine people following their hobby or profession.

2) You may not be aware that the Government has made the unlicensed provision of even one musician in many venues (including pubs and schools) a potentially criminal offence (some places are exempt, including places of public religious worship, royal palaces and moving vehicles). Max penalty: £20,000 fine and six months in prison.

The live music/licensing e-petition questions this, and now has over 23,000 signatures. It currently stands at no.5 in the list of petitions on the Number 10 website:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/

This is good, especially in just under a month - and there are five more months in which people can sign. But the petition needs to do much better to make an impression on ministers, and to encourage DCMS to implement music-friendly amendments.