Will disconnection from the internet end copyright piracy or will the innocent be penalised?
The Digital Economy Act 2010 became law when it was rushed through under the ‘wash up’ procedure immediately before the election. It has attracted criticism from consumer rights and privacy groups due in part to its provisions which are aimed at stopping illegal file sharing of music, television, film or games on the internet. The Act will make the targeting of households more likely and serial offenders (or at least, the owners of the internet connection) might, eventually, have their internet connections cut off. Concerns have been raised regarding the impact on connections in shared households (such as students) where one infringer could cause the loss of the connection for the innocent. Businesses offering free WiFi to their customers, as well as libraries and universities could be caught in the same way.
Until now, legal redress for illegal file sharing was sought through the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Media companies could take civil action for damages against people allegedly breaching their copyrights if they could be accurately identified. This required investigators to discover the internet protocol (IP) address (unique to every connection to the internet) offering music, film, television or computer games for others to copy, and to get personal details of the owners of that IP address from the internet service provider (ISP) . However, the relevant ISP, typically would only hand over its information after a court order – which finally links the IP address to a customer's name and address. The process is complicated and expensive, and the only penalty is a fine.
The idea behind the Act is to make it clear that ISPs have to notify users of alleged infringement if they are presented with a valid request, and to introduce a tough penalty. That penalty is to "temporarily" disconnect the internet connections of repeat offenders. Disconnection will only be introduced if penalties that stop short of it have been tried and assessed for at least a year first. It is widely expected that disconnection will eventually be introduced.
