TorrentFreak

Internet service providers BT and TalkTalk have lost their appeal against the UK’s Digital Economy Act. The ISPs had argued that the legislation was incompatible with EU law, but this morning the Court of Appeal decided otherwise and dismissed their appeal. While the decision was welcomed by copyright holders, Internet account holders now face warnings, disconnections and speed throttling.

A trio of Court of Appeal judges are expected to give their ruling today as to whether a decision by the High Court supporting the controversial Digital Economy Act can be overturned. BT and TalkTalk, two of the country’s largest ISPs, had objected to the legislation claiming it breached EU directives. Today, however, they find themselves in a new controversy.

Two UK ISPs have obtained permission to appeal a High Court judicial review of the country’s Digital Economy Act. The ruling, in favor of ISPs BT and TalkTalk, comes this morning from the Court of Appeal. The ISPs, who believe that the legislation impinges on the rights of Internet users, lost a judicial review of [...]

As reported a month ago, a proposal condemning the Digital Economy Act (DEA) was indeed brought before the Liberal Democrats’ Autumn Conference this week. The Liberal Democrats – the junior coalition member of the UK Government – were opposed to the legislation from the start and were the only major UK party to voice opposition [...]

The UK Liberal Democrat Party – one of the two parties making the coalition government – will vote on several measures during its convention to bolster the economy, and create ‘a level playing field for business’. First item on the list? Repealing the ‘Piracy’ sections of the Digital Economy Act It’s Convention season in the [...]

Last week, UK communications regulator OFCOM published a report which came to the conclusion that blocking ‘pirate’ websites would not be effective. The report contained a number of sensitive government redactions which were easily removed, effectively providing a comprehensive guide to bypass web blocking measures. Since the US government wants to adopt the same technical measures via the PROTECT IP Act, they too will be rendered ineffective using the same methods.

Yesterday the UK government announced that following a report from regulator OFCOM, plans to block alleged copyright-infringing websites would be dropped. However, there was a second report where OFCOM detailed ways of keeping the costs of Digital Economy Act infringement appeals down. The document carried the usual redactions but TorrentFreak has put on its X-ray vision for your viewing pleasure.