UK judge sets aside challenge to crackdown on net piracy
21 Apr 2011
A high court judge in the UK yesterday turned down a challenge to the government's piracy crackdown, clearing the way to blocking of illegal file-sharing sites and sending warning letters to offenders by broadband providers.
Except of one, the rest of the challenges were dismissed by
justice Kenneth Parker. These were brought by BT and TalkTalk against the Digital Economy Act, passed by the previous government shortly before the general election last year.
According to Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music-rights group BPI, the judgment gave the green signal for action to tackle illegal downloading in the UK.
A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, however, said it was good to know that the court had recognised these measures as both lawful and proportionate.
He added that the government remained committed to tackling online piracy and would set out the next steps for implementation of the Digital Economy Act shortly.
According to the creative industry's estimates, online piracy costs upwards of £400 million a year. The judgment yesterday had given the go-ahead for the government's proposed measures to curb the practice, including a block on websites where films, books, music and other copyrighted material could be downloaded illegally.
