Downloaders targeted

The government’s Digital Economy Bill, which would cut broadband access for persistent illegal file-sharers, has continued to attract criticism.

The Bill, which is making its way through the House of Lords, would introduce bandwidth capping for persistent illegal file-sharers. Internet Service providers would be required to notify users accused of online piracy and keep a record of the number of notifications sent.

Paddy Gardiner, media partner at Eversheds, says: “Although the thrust of the proposals may be broadly welcomed by rights holders, the plans seem hurriedly put together and not clearly thought-through.

“The proposed powers can be divested to ‘any person specified’, rather than specifically Ofcom, and could have far-reaching and unforeseen effects.

In fact, in its enthusiasm to outlaw filesharers, the government may be setting the stage for bigger battles over digital content between powerful rights holders such as Newscorp and content aggregators such as Google.”