Happy Birthday DE Act
It seems hard to believe, but Tuesday 12th April 2011 was the first anniversary of the passing of the Digital Economy Act 2010.
Although the previous Government had hoped that the copyright enforcement provisions of the Act would be in operation by the start of this year, there is still no sign of the Initial Obligations Code setting out how rightsholders, ISPs and subscribers will be required to act, and a High Court judge is currently considering the evidence presented last month in the Judicial Review of whether the Act is compliant with European Directives. Since the outcome of that Judicial Review may well be appealed, and some commentators are suggesting that the complex interaction of Directives may require a further reference to the European Court of Justice, it now seems possible that there will be at least one more birthday before any copyright infringement notices are actually sent.
