Around 50,000 internet users have received letters from law firms accusing them of illegal downloading and many people have already been forced to spend £500 on settling wrongful claims.
That’s according to information revealed by consumer rights organisation Which? at an event we held in Westminster today.
Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk CEO (left) with Jeremy Hunt MP, the Conservatives’ culture, media and sport spokesman (right)
We invited MPs, peers, journalists, musicians and consumer experts to the event, entitled Principles and Practicalities of Copyright Protection, to show them just how misguided and impractical the Digital Economy Bill is.
We wanted them to hear that our concerns were not simply the commercial interests of an ISP but rather those of customers. So as well as Which? we were joined by Liberty, Consumer Focus and Open Rights Group, along with Charles Dunstone and me from TalkTalk, and all of us presented evidence to show that the proposed law was both ineffective and a contravention of the right to a fair trial.
Which? also brought along two victims of these lawyers’ letters, allowing them to tell their own stories about how they were accused of illegal downloading they couldn’t possibly have been responsible for.
Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk CEO (right) with Billy Bragg, musician who opposes the Digital Economy Bill (left)
We had a great turn out at the event and everyone who came said they found it useful as an explanation of the technical and legal issues. We hope it helped persuade a few people in positions of authority that the Digital Economy Bill as it stands would be a real disaster for Britain’s digital development.
The presentations we at TalkTalk gave to our invited guests can be found on our Don’t Disconnect Us website, so you can see the views of all of us for yourself.
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