Press Releases
CEO Update-Digital Economy Bill
26 April 2010
CEO Opinion...
There has been much said about the Digital Economy Bill with much complaint about the manner in which it was forced through Parliament with questions over how at a practical level it will be enforced. We are being asked by the media for our opinion and by a variety of our network partners who are understandably anxious about any potential liabilities.
Our Interpretation...
The act is aimed at protecting copyright holders through stopping illegal file transfer – it seeks to stop serial offenders giving OFCOM (the regulator) the teeth to penalise the Internet Service Provider (ISP), if the ISP allows the illegal act to persist - and of course action can be / will be taken against the actual offender.
The implications...
In our opinion businesses delivering their own WiFi or Internet service will be most at risk from this new legislation.
The publican, café owner, hotel or business owner who is delivering a public access Internet service will need to record who is accessing the service, keep records of the Internet sessions and the usage – our interpretation is that either OFCOM or the copyright owner could take action against the business for failure to comply with the act – the maximum fine being £250,000.
The Cloud...
Our service is fully compliant. We work closely with the government to ensure we are compliant and continually invest in the development of our core technology & systems
We see no risks for our service partners – our interpretation is that it is squarely our responsibility to support the copyright owner and OFCOM stopping persistent infringement.
If we have a situation whereby one of our service partners is cited as being the location where infringement is occurring and that location refuses to act – we may be legally bound to stop the delivery of service.
We simply cannot see how this would occur given the unlikely circumstance of a café, a leisure complex or a publican being party to illegal file sharing.
Businesses Running Their Own Public Access Services...
It’s really not worth the risk.
We anticipate that the legislation will get tougher / tighter with stronger enforcement and possibly larger penalties as governments focus on stopping anonymous Internet access and generally protect copyright holders.
The Cloud is Europe’s leading independent service provider with arguably (our opinion) the best technology platforms and some of the best people in the industry – if you require some assistance understanding what action to take please feel free to contact us on marketing@thecloud.net