The Digital Economy Act 2010

4 June 2010

By Ben Evans

So the Digital Economy Act 2010 is in force as of 08 April 2010. Of course it made its way into the legislation book during the pre-election uncertainty, as a result some aspects were watered down or even removed in order to facilitate its quick enactment.

Bearing in mind some areas fell away at the last minute the question remains as to exactly what the act covers:

Infringement Reporting: Under the Act copyright owners can report elleged online infringements to the ISP providing internet access to the user allegely responsible. These reports must provide evidence as to the IP address used for the alleged infringement as well as details of the infringement. On receipt of these details the ISP must then give the user a written warning notifying them of the report and informing them how they can legally access copyright protected material.

Lists of Infringers: ISP's must maintain lists of infringements and infringers (anonymous) to be made available to rights holders at their request. Should the rights holder then wish to take action against a user then they will need to get a court order requiring the ISP to disclose the users details.

Sanctions: Levels or thresholds of infringement are provided for, where a user reaches these levels ISP's are required to take technical steps against them: 1) to limited their connection speed, 2) to block certain sites and 3) to cut them off completely. Should the ISP not take these steps then they face fines of up to £250,000.00 If an ISP fails to apply these sanctions, it may face a fine of up to £250,000.

Blocking Injunctions: There are new powers for copyright owners to obtain court orders to force ISP's to block certain websites that contain or host infringing material.

These measures are considered as too severe by the general public and businesses in general but not severe enough by many in the creative industries. As with all new law it will take some time to really see the effects of this Act, but suffice to say it will effect all of our lives in some way!

Ben Evans is a trainee solicitor specialising in intellectual property and entertainment and media law.