Digital Economy Act judicial review granted to BT and TalkTalk

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The Digital Economy Act is set to be scrutinised under judicial review.

Although the court case is yet to be concluded, a tweet from the High Court in London by a journalist from the Financial Times claimed the review had been granted following complaints from both TalkTalk and BT lodged back in the summer.

“So far, the judge has granted [the Digital Economy Act] review on three out of BT/TalkTalk's four grounds,” said the tweet.

The case is set to conclude this afternoon when more details will become available.

However, TalkTalk has already released a statement praising the judge’s decision.

“We are very pleased that the Court has recognised that our concerns about the copyright infringement provisions in the Digital Economy Act should be considered in a full hearing,” said Andrew Heaney, executive director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk.

“The provisions to try to reduce illegal filesharing are unfair, won’t work and will potentially result in millions of innocent customers who have broken no law suffering and having their privacy invaded.”

Jim Killock, outspoken critic of the bill and executive director of the Open Rights Group, also praised the review being granted.

"We are extremely glad that judges will be taking a look at the Digital Economy Act, which we believe breaches people’s rights to freedom of expression and privacy," he said.

"The Act is a mess and badly needs repealing. Judicial Review may give the government the chance to drop this heavy-handed approach to copyright enforcement."

The contentious bill was pushed through parliament in the “wash up” stage back in April after the election was called, causing further controversy as many believed it had not been fully scrutinised.

“The Act was rushed through Parliament… [with] only six per cent of MPs attending the brief debate and has very serious flaws,” added Heaney.

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