BT and TalkTalk seek to overturn Digital Economy Act

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 8 Jul 2010 at 10:34

Rival ISPs BT and TalkTalk have joined forces to ask the High Court to review the controversial Digital Economy Act, saying it was rushed through parliament.

The act was passed in the wash-up phase of the last Government, and includes controversial clauses forcing ISPs to potentially disconnect illegal file-sharers and block sites hosting pirated content.

Innocent broadband customers will suffer and citizens will have their privacy invaded by this Act

TalkTalk's chairman Charles Dunstone said the "haste" with which the bill was passed meant it "became law without being properly scrutinised and without its impact being properly assessed."

"In our view the previous Government’s rushed approach resulted in flawed legislation. Innocent broadband customers will suffer and citizens will have their privacy invaded by this Act," wrote Dunstone on the TalkTalk blog.

He said the measures to cut off illegal file-sharers could "harm the basic rights and freedoms of citizens" and breach EU law.

"That’s why we need a Judicial Review by the High Court as quickly as possible before lots of money is spent on implementation," he said. "We want to avoid a situation where we invest tens of millions of pounds in new systems and processes only to find that the Act is unenforceable and the money wasted."

The call for review was praised by privacy lobbyists the Open Rights Group. “This is exactly what we and 20,000 supporters warned their MPs [against]. The Act was rushed through and is already working extremely badly," said executive director Jim Killock. "It threatens basic rights and large chunks need to be repealed.”

A spokeswoman with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) told PC Pro the Government intended to stick with the act. "We believe measures are consistent with EU legislation and that there are enough safeguards in place to protect the rights of consumers and ISPs and will continue to work on implementing them," the spokeswoman said.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called for the Act to be repealed ahead of the election. "It wasn't a wash-up, it was a stitch-up... That's why we said it should have been scrutinised properly, it shouldn't have been rushed through in that way in the first place, at all."