ISPs’ court proceedings described as ‘odd’ by Vaizey

Ed Vaizey, the UK Communications Minister, has recently spoken out about the legal action being taken by two communications giants in relation to the Digital Economy Act, describing the action as ‘odd’.

According to a recent report, Ed Vaizey, the UK Communications Minister, has recently spoken out about the legal action being taken by two communications giants in relation to the Digital Economy Act, describing the action as ‘odd’. The legal challenge has been launched by the Internet Service Providers BT and TalkTalk.

A judicial review of the Act was submitted jointly by the two ISPs after they began a High Court legal battle last year in a bid to get the Digital Economy Act repealed. The providers said that the Act had been rushed into law before the dissolution of parliament just before the coalition government was voted into power.

Vaizey was talking recently at the Intellect technology conference in London, and he said: “Well I find their [BT and TalkTalk] attitude quite odd… I mean I do find it odd that BT has spent so much time on litigating against an act of Parliament. They have fallen at every hurdle…I think they are still carrying on but there you go.”

He added: “What we are trying to do is encourage rights holders and ISPs to work together…I am keen to protect our content industries as I think people should be able to earn money from the content they make, as laid out in the Digital Economy Act – and the Government should do what it can to protect them. Nobody is saying there is a 100 per cent solution or that business models don’t have to change. They obviously do in the digital age – but it doesn’t mean you should sit back and let other people rip off others’ work.”

What do you think of BT and Talk Talk’s actions?

Soure – Telegraph