Ofcom to review Digital Economy Act

Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has asked the communications regulator (“Ofcom”) to review the workability of the Digital Economy Act 2010 (“Act”) and in particular, the powers designed to block access to websites accused of copyright infringement, one of its most controversial aspects. (For more information on the Act’s obligations, please click here.)

Ofcom will assess the site blocking provisions in the Act and how they could work in practice. In particular, Ofcom will look at whether it is practicable for internet service providers, such as BT, Virgin and Sky, to block access to sites, how robust any such block would be and whether such a blocking could be applied to certain parts of sites as opposed to the whole domain.

The review follows on from the public response to the “Your Freedom” consultation, which ran during the course of last year, and during which the site blocking issue was raised.

This latest development adds to the opposition already raised in response the Act which was rushed through by the Labour government in last year’s “wash-up” procedure. In November 2010, BT and Talk Talk were granted the right to a judicial review of the Act after they raised their concerns over its compatibility with European legislation designed to protect users’ privacy and restrict the role of ISPs in policing the internet. The review is expected to be heard in March and despite the opposition to the Act, there are many in favour of its provision including the Premiere League, who will be supporting the Act in the judicial review.

This chequered history during the short life of this Act demonstrates the controversy and difficulties involved in implementing provisions to combat the widespread issue of online copyright infringement. 

Written by Shelley Marshall, a Solicitor in Nelsons' Commerce and Technology group.