Judge throws out piracy law appeal from ISPs

A HIGH Court judge yesterday threw out a challenge to theGovernment's piracy crackdown, paving the way for broadbandproviders to block illegal file-sharing sites and send warningletters to offenders.

Mr Justice Kenneth Parker dismissed all but one of the challengesbrought by BT and TalkTalk over the Digital Economy Act, passed bythe previous Government shortly before the general election lastyear.

Geoff Taylor, the chief executive of music-rights group BPI, saidthe judgment "gives the green light for action to tackle illegaldownloading in the UK".

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said:"We are pleased that the court has recognised these measures as bothlawful and proportionate."

He added: "The Government remains committed to tackling onlinepiracy and so will set out the next steps for implementation of theDigital Economy Act shortly."

The creative industry estimates that online piracy costs upwardsof 400m a year. Yesterday's judgment has given the go-ahead for theGovernment's proposed measures to curb the practice, including ablock on websites where films, books, music and other copyrightedmaterial can be downloaded illegally.

Those involved in the practice will be tracked before formalwarnings are sent and persistent offenders will be identifiedthrough the courts. The broadband companies were considering theiroptions yesterday after arguing that the Digital Economy Act wasseriously flawed and was not compliant with European Union law. Theyfirms had said the measures were disproportionate and unwieldy, withtheir lawyers arguing that the act would "impact on the privacy andfree expression rights" of consumers.

"We are disappointed with the outcome of the Judicial Review," aspokesman for BT said after the decision was handed down yesterday."We are reviewing this long and complex judgment. This was alwaysabout seeking clarity on certain points of law and we have toconsider whether this judgment achieves these aims."

The two internet service providers challenged the act on fiveseparate grounds. The judge found in favour of BT and TalkTalk overthe question of their paying 25 per cent of the costs ofestablishing an appeals body. This will not overturn anything in theDigital Economy Act but will require an amendment to the draft CostsOrder. BT will still have to pay one-quarter of the administrationsand appeals costs.

Groups representing the content companies were delighted with theruling. John McVay, the chief executive of the trade associationPact, said the review had been "misconceived", adding that thedecision "confirms that the Digital Economy Act is a legal,proportionate way to tackle the enormous damage caused by onlinecopyright infringement". He added that instead of wasting time andmoney on further legal challenges, "BT and TalkTalk now need tofocus on working with rights holders and the Government inimplementing the DEA".