Sherlock denies he threatened to pull out of copyright law forum

Innovation minister Seán Sherlock has denied he threatened to pull out of an open forum on copyright legislation unless a prominent internet lawyer was removed from the panel.

In a letter to Broadsheet.ie, Simon McGarr, a specialist in IP and internet law and a member of the StopSOPAIreland campaign, claimed organisers of the Digital Rights Forum told him the minister’s office contacted them to state Mr Sherlock would not attend if Mr McGarr was present.

“Last Thursday I got a lunchtime phonecall from the event organiser. He told me he’d just got off the phone from speaking to the minister’s office. The minister had wanted him to know that unless I was uninvited, he would cancel. A diary clash would arise, was how it was put, I was told. I agreed to be uninvited.”