14 DAY TRIAL // The Digital Economy Bill, which is now expected to become law in the UK in a matter of days, is causing all manner of criticism and controversy. Thankfully for UK citizens, some are planning to stand up to what they perceive as faulty legislation. One of the biggest ISPs in the country, TalkTalk, is now vowing to not bow to requests from copyright holders and only disclose private information about its subscribers after a court order. The ISP says it will also not disconnect users without a court hearing.
"TalkTalk will continue to battle against these oppressive proposals... After the election we will resume highlighting the substantial dangers inherent in the proposals," Andrew Heaney, executive director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk, announced.
He added, "In the meantime we stand by our pledges to our customers: - Unless we are served with a court order we will never surrender a customer’s details to rightsholders. We are the only major ISP to have taken this stance and we will maintain it. - If we are instructed to disconnect an account due to alleged copyright infringement we will refuse to do so and tell the rightsholders we’ll see them in court."
That sounds awfully noble of the company, unfortunately, in practical terms, the pledge doesn't really mean anything. The bill is almost certain to become law, but, even so, it will take many months or even more than a year for it to become enforceable. That is, assuming that the bill survives in its current form. Some of the more controversial parts of the bill could still be scrutinized by the next Parliament, which will be formed after the upcoming General Elections in the UK.
Basically, for the foreseeable future, no copyright holder will have any more legitimacy in asking for an Internet subscriber's name or address, not to mention asking for their disconnection, than it does under the current British laws. TalkTalk, or any other ISP, for that matter, isn't likely to receive any of the threats it has pledged to protect its customers against. And if it does, it will be fully within the confines of the law to ignore them. PR move or genuine pledge, at least the company is successful in raising more debate on the issue.