TalkTalk defies Digital Law
April 12, 2010
One of the UK’s three biggest Internet service providers has declared it will not co-operate with measures to combat file-sharing set out in the government’s controversial digital economy bill. TalkTalk, which has more than 4 million UK internet users, said that objectionable provisions remain in the bill, including those that would allow content companies to force ISPs to block the connections of customers suspected of online copyright infringement.
Andrew Heaney, TalkTalk’s director of strategy and regulation, said the proposals were “draconian”: “This is made all the more appalling by the ability of big music and film companies to influence government and the absence of any proper debate or scrutiny by MPs – only 5 per cent of MPs turned up for the brief debate and the other important parliamentary stages will be bypassed in the wash-up process.”