Judge dismisses ISPs' challenge to Digital Economy Bill

Following the judicial review of the digital economy bill, brought by ISPs BT and TalkTalk, a judge has today ruled against the ISPs, potentially giving the go-ahead to the Digital Economy Act's anti-piracy measures.

High Court judge Justice Kenneth Parker threw out four of the five claims made by the ISPs as reasons that the bill was unenforceable. This included the claim that the proposed 'three strikes' rule for disconnecting pirates was disproportionate, and that the law breached data protection laws. The review found that processing user's internet data was 'appropriate in law' because it will help protect copyright.

The only point on which the review agreed with the ISPs was that they should not have to contribute 25 per cent of the costs towards the system, or 25 per cent of the costs towards establishing an appeals body for those accused of downloading copyrighted material illegally.

However, the deployment of such a system is still a long way off, with TalkTalk still looking to challenge the Digital Economy Act in front of a higher authority such as the European Court of Justice.

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