From Digital Economy Act Info

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There are two possible sections of the Digital Economy Act that may impact businesses who provide wifi access (including cafes, hotels, libraries etc).

The first is issue of facing "technical measures" (commonly expected to be disconnection) if your internet connection is believed to have been used for copyright infringement. The second is whether under the terms of the bill you are classed as an "internet services provider"; this currently seems unlikely, but the bill doesn't sufficiently define it.

If people do use your connection for copyright infringement, don't panic just yet. The precise penalties have yet to be defined (a parliamentary committee will be doing this after a period of public consultation) and even when they have they won't come into effect for 12 months after the act became law. The decision to impose "technical measures" needs to go before a court, which should hopefully allow for some lenience on "public" wifi, but only time will tell.

An article on 23 April 2010 in The Register suggest Ofcom are considering adding exemptions from the bill's requirements for small ISPs including people offering public WiFi. [1]

It has also been noted that registering with your ISP as a communications provider may provide protection from some aspects of the bill. See What about this loophole I read about? for further details.