The Digital Economy Bill, which has been the subject of lobbying
and protest from digital rights groups, received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. The Bill
was introduced to address findings in the Digital Britain Report, a report which
was the subject of close scrutiny, research and consultation. The
same cannot be said of the Bill itself.
The Bill was passed during the so-called Parliamentary "wash-up" period - the short
period of time between the calling of an election and the
dissolution of Parliament. Many consider that it is entirely
inappropriate for a Bill of such importance to have been passed
using a process predominantly designed to push through
uncontroversial and unopposed Bills and are concerned at the lack
of proper scrutiny and Parliamentary debate afforded to it
– reportedly, only 40 of some 640 MPs attended the second
reading.
The Digital Economy Act 2010 includes, among
others, the following new measures:
- A duty on Ofcom to report on the UK's communications infrastructure
- Obligations on internet service providers (ISPs) to reduce online copyright infringement
- Provisions relating to website blocking
- Increased penalties for copyright infringement
By far the most hotly debated of its provisions are those
relating to copyright infringement and website blocking.
The Act gives the Secretary of State the power to impose technical
obligations on ISPs to take measures against subscribers who have
had more than a prescribed threshold of copyright infringement
reports made against them – the so-called "three
strikes rule". These measures include limiting internet
connection speed and suspending the subscriber's service
altogether. Further, the Act contains a website-blocking provision,
which provides for the granting of blocking injunctions by a court
in respect of websites which are being or are likely to be used in
connection with copyright infringing activity.
For content creators, the passing of the Act is a welcome move and
a step closer to addressing the problem of peer-to-peer file
sharing. For ISPs, internet subscribers and WiFi providers such as
internet cafés, schools and universities, the prospect of
these new powers being implemented is a daunting one.
However, only time will tell what the full effect of these
provisions will be, with the most controversial, including the
subscriber suspension and website blocking measures, to be the
subject of further scrutiny and debate and requiring secondary
legislation before they can be implemented.
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