ISPs to take the digital economy act to court!

BT and Talk Talk are joining forces to take on the Digital Economy Act in the High Court.

Both organisations feel that the Act was “rushed through” parliament in the run up to the General Election. They are seeking a judicial review to clarify the legality of the act before it is implemented. The two internet providers think that the act had "insufficient scrutiny" and question whether its proposals to curb illegal file-sharing harm "basic rights and freedoms".

This is an argument that is at the forefront of the opinion held by the Lib Dem arm of the coalition government, as they too argued have the act repealed in the run up to the election.


Among the Acts most controversial measures are proposals to disconnect persistent illegal file-sharers from the web and give copyright holders the power to block access to websites hosting illegal content.


Regulator Ofcom, are currently drawing up detailed plans of how the legislation will work, and has recently said that plans to remove peoples' internet connections would not come into force until at least 2012.


As the code of practice suggests that this only affects larger ISPs with over 400,000 users, there is an argument that it puts them at a disadvantage. The larger ISPs feel that their users will opt for smaller suppliers in order to avoid detection.

TalkTalk and BT are particularly interested in seeking clarity as to whether the act conflicts with EU legislation. The legislation states that ISPs are "mere conduits" of content and should not be held responsible for the traffic on their networks.

The ISPs are outraged that they are being forced to protect the creative industries old business models, instead of the industries being encouraged to find new ways of distributing their products online.

As a broadband user – what do you think of the digital economy act? Is the internet a basic human right or a luxury that we should treat with care?