ISPs lose Digital Economy Act judicial review

He added: "Shareholders and customers of BT and TalkTalk might ask why so much time and money has been spent challenging an Act of Parliament to help reduce the illegal traffic on their networks."

"It is now time for BT and TalkTalk to work constructively with Government and with rights holders to implement the Digital Economy Act."

The ISPs did win a slight reprieve in relation to the costing model. Initially, they were set to pay out for a lot of the implementation of the new system. However, the judge ruled they would only be responsible in collaboration with rights holders for the cost of operating the system and the appeals process.

However, the bill for the costs involved in the set up, monitoring and enforcement of the Act by Ofcom will not fall under their remit.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.