Illegal downloading of copyrighted material is being tackled by the UK Government with a new Digital Economy Bill. The bill is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords.
The bill outlines Ofcom’s main responsibilities as follows:
- Approving a binding code of practice made by ISPs or, if no code is agreed, adopting a code for the purpose of regulating the initial obligations;
- Resolving infringement disputes between ISPs, copyright owners and subscribers and establishing a body to resolve appeals;
- Providing reports to the Secretary of State on the level of copyright infringements and the extent to which copyright owners have reported infringements to ISPs and have commenced infringement actions; and
- Creating a code regulating ISPs’ obligations to impose technical measures against repeat offenders.
Further details of the bill is available on the UK Parliament website at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/digitaleconomy.html.
Further reading on the contents and effect of the bill are available on The Lawyer website at: http://www.thelawyer.com/wire-guard/1003130.article.