Two important bits of the Digital Economy Act were republished by Ofcom in the summer - and despite Ofcom having had two years to work on them, fundamental problems remain. Crucially people accused of infringement will have to pay ?20 to appeal the accusation. The fee is refunded if your appeal is upheld, but the aim is to deliberately prevent innocent people from appealing.

The Act still puts public Wi-Fi provision at risk because Wi-Fi providers may be liable for their customers' alleged infringement.

The Lords will shortly be debating whether to approve the charges. The Digital Economy Act is a mess of a law: expensive, error-ridden and unlikely to work. It needs repealing.

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