What is my ISP's policy on complying with the Act?
From Digital Economy Act Info
Ofcom, the communications regulator, has published a Terms of Reference document detailing its responsibilities under the Digital Economy Act. According to this document it can enforce the disclosure of ISP's customer information to rightholders, although "any such transfer of personal information will require a Court Order".
Some ISPs have made public statements about the Digital Economy Act specifying how they intend to comply with the Act's requirements. Here is a summary of each ISP's publicly-stated policies:
| ISP | Authority required to surrender customer details | Authority required to disconnect customer | Allows registering as a communications provider | Reference(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talk Talk | Court order | Court order | The TalkTalk Blog | ||
| BE | Court order | BE blogger | |||
| O2 | Court order | "strongly disagree with any suggestion of disconnecting customers" | O2 blog | ||
| BT | "properly made demands" under the Data Protection Act | BT Privacy Policy | |||
| AAISP | court order if not volunteered by customer in RIPE details | court order (until DEA forces otherwise) | Yes, though definitions will be key | [1] |
| Please add any public policy statements that your ISP makes on compliance with the Digital Economy Act. If you do so, please include a link to the statement. |
As the current draft of the Ofcom code of practice stands, initially the code will cover only ISPs with 400,000 or more subscribers. This means that only BT, Virgin, Talk Talk, Sky, Orange, O2 and Post Office will be required to participate in the warning letter process at first. However, Ofcom says it will monitor copyright infringement levels and may extend the provisions to smaller ISPs at a future date.
