One of the UK’s three biggest Internet service providers has declared it will not co-operate with measures to combat file-sharing set out in the government’s controversial digital economy bill. TalkTalk, which has more than 4 million UK internet users, said that objectionable provisions remain in the bill, including those that would allow content companies to […]

The UK Digital Economy Bill was passed in a series of compromise deals to get it on the statute before the election. The legislation has been forced through despite opposition from ISPs and others that it would punish innocent users with its powers to disconnect allegedly heavy down loaders. One of the main voices in […]

In the 'wash up' rush to get laws through parliament before dissolution at the end of this week the government has been heavily trimming its Digital Economy Bill. Most prominent casualty is the £6 (E6.8) pa phone line tax to fund fast broadband. The national rollout of replacement ITV regional news services and giving Ofcom […]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the FCC lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks. The verdict – a major blow to Net Neutrality – follows Comcast's challenge to the FCC's authority to rule that they […]

Hollywood studios have warned that Spain could become a 'non viable market' for them because of movie piracy. “People are downloading movies in such large quantities that Spain is on the brink of no longer being a viable home entertainment market for us,” Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, told the Los Angeles Times. […]

As expected UK regulator Ofcom's review of pay-TV has concluded that it should regulate BSkyB's wholesale pricing of its sports channels in a bid, it says, to increase competition and thereby lower prices and increase innovation. Six weeks from now Ofcom expects Sky to cut its ratecard for each of Sky Sports 1 and 2 […]

ISPs will have to do more to help content owners protect their content online following a High Court ruling. In a case brought by a group of film studios including Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros, the judge found that Newzbin, a private online forum, was liable for its members' copyright infringement when […]

Net firms must do a better job of telling customers about broadband speeds or face stiffer regulation. Ofcom has warned following research the telecoms watchdog carried out on how ISPs sell broadband. It revealed that 74 per cent of customers were not told that the maximum speed on their line was likely to be higher […]

UK video-on-demand providers must pay a combined £375,000 (E415,000) to two bodies that will regulate their industry. The Association for Television On Demand (ATVOD) which has been confirmed by Ofcom to co-regulate, along with it, the VOD sector, says running costs for December 2009 to March 2011 are £426,388, and that the VOD providers themselves […]

The sport rights holders, who have benefitted greatly from Sky's determination to dominate pay TV sport, are considering legal action to stop Ofcom regulating the price at which Sky wholesales its channels – a move that will likely lead to lower bids for rights. Sports governing bodies argue that the move will “irreparably damage” investment […]