Ed Vaizey questions BT's legal challenge to Digital Economy Act

Internet minister Ed Vaizey has questioned the recent legal challenge to the Digital Economy Act from internet service providers (ISPs) BT and TalkTalk, arguing that the legislation is vital to stop the creative industries being ripped off.

Speaking at the Intellect 2011 Conference, the minister said that the failure of BT and TalkTalk to have the Act overturned proved that it had been well put together and is necessary to clamp down on sites offering illegal content.

"The attitude of the ISPs is quite odd. BT has spent so much time litigating against an act of parliament and fallen at every hurdle, which is a great endorsement of the work officials did in putting the Act together," he said on Tuesday.

"There are prominent web sites that stream live football or sell movies without permission from rights holders, and we should look at ways of stopping them. No-one is saying business models don't have to change, but that doesn't mean you sit back and let people rip off other people's content."

V3.co.uk contacted BT for a response but the firm declined to comment.

The Digital Economy Act has come in for strong criticism from several quarters, most notably in a report delivered to the United Nations which argued that it will infringe the rights of citizens by cutting off access to the internet.

Despite this, Vaizey explained that he still favours a "light-touch" approach to internet regulation, and is hopeful that the industry will come together to solve most issues without recourse to legal action.

"There are rumours of a voluntary system being implemented in the US and that would be a significant game-changer. We want industry to find a way forward where the most egregious sites can [be taken offline]," he said.

Vaizey also revealed that the government has received 130 submissions to its consultation on changes to the Communication Act, and said that these will go into the government's green paper to be launched before the end of 2011.

The minister also underlined the government's desire to ensure that 90 per cent of the population have access to superfast broadband of 25Mbit/s and above by 2015, and that spectrum auctions for 4G holdings will go ahead at the start of 2012.

"It is critical for mobile and wireless broadband that we auction off new spectrum at the beginning of next year and we intend this to happen. It has been delayed for far too long," he said.