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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I have a great deal of support for these amendments. It is important that any internet service provider has confidence that, if they are to take action based on the receipt of a copyright infringement report, the evidence that it includes has been obtained legally and that, if they make use of such evidence, they will not be exposed to legal action from any alleged infringer. We have tabled a later amendment dealing with similar issues around mere conduit status. We will deal with this at the appropriate time but it is important to state that Amendment 56 would ensure that internet service providers are not using evidence that is of a dubious legal nature, as pointed out by the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, or that may incriminate them in the future. Amendment 57 is equally important. First, internet service providers should not be expected to establish if a copyright infringement report has come from the genuine rights holder. Such an expectation would place too much of the burden of this process on internet service providers, who are not equipped to establish who actually holds the copyright. A sworn legal statement asserting ownership would give the internet service provider a level of security that they need to proceed. Secondly, this is an important element in the protection against scams and unscrupulous firms who may make false claims simply to pursue financial gain. The House, as has already been said today, is aware of a number of law firms who are already attempting to contact people threatening to disconnect them unless they pay a fine. It would be a small step for these firms to contact internet service providers with similar false claims. Evidence of ownership of the copyright would help prevent such an abuse of the system from taking place.