Digital Economy Bill
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| Long title | A bill to make provision about electronic communications infrastructure and services; to provide for restricting access to online pornography; to make provision about protection of intellectual property in connection with electronic communications; to make provision about data-sharing; to make provision about functions of OFCOM in relation to the BBC; to provide for determination by the BBC of age-related TV licence fee concessions; to make provision about the regulation of direct marketing; to make other provision about OFCOM and its functions; and for connected purposes. |
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| Introduced by | John Whittingdale |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 27 April 2017 |
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| Relates to | Digital Economy Act 2010 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Digital Economy Act 2017 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is substantially different from, and shorter than, the Digital Economy Act 2010, whose provisions largely ended up not being passed into law. The act addresses policy issues related to electronic communications infrastructure and services, and updates the conditions for and sentencing of criminal copyright infringement. It was introduced to Parliament by culture secretary John Whittingdale on 5 July 2016. Whittingdale was replaced as culture secretary by Karen Bradley on 14 July 2016. The act received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017.
The provisions of the act include:
The bill completed its passage through the House of Commons during the Autumn of 2016. It then moved to the House of Lords. Royal Assent was achieved by the end of Spring 2017. The final stages of the legislative process occurred during the wash-up period before the 2017 general election, as was the case with the Digital Economy Act 2010 which completed its course through parliament during the wash-up before the 2010 general election.
Although privacy and technical safeguards for the sharing of citizens' data are not included in the act, the government has stated that it intends to publish codes of practice following a public consultation.
The Open Rights Group raised concerns over aspects of the bill. The provisions for the age verification of pornographic website users caused concern regarding the privacy of collected user data and the possible ineffectiveness of a method focussed on restricting payments. The proposals for bulk data sharing raised concerns over the risk of misuse. The provisions regarding copyright infringements were criticised for the vagueness of the definition and the severity of the maximum sentence (10 years in prison). BILETA, the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association, also criticised the proposal to increase maximum jail term in its submission to the Government's consultation. The proposal was described as 'unacceptable', 'unaffordable', and 'infeasible'. It has been suggested that this provision may be intended to dissuade users of technology such as Kodi software from downloading content that breaches copyright regulations.
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