Digital Economy Act Explained

WiFi Hotspots are dependent on a broadband connection for connectivity to the Internet. The content being viewed and/or downloaded is being scrutinised by the government via Internet Service Providers to ensure that illegal content is not accessed. Freedom Hotspot systems comply with this legislation to control what is accessed and by whom this is accessed using a variety of difference processes and technical controls.

3 Key Aspects That Affect Clients Providing a WiFi Hotspot are:

1. How does the Digital Economy Bill affect my customers?

The Digital Economy Bill, passed in April 2010, is in place to tighten up on illegal file sharing activity. The legislation itself actually covers a wide range of media related activities including television, video games, domain names and the powers of regulator Ofcom.

Ofcom have proposed a ‘three-strike’ system whereby if illegal activity takes place the ISP will send the broadband subscriber written notification up to three times. After three notifications the subscriber will be added to a copyright infringement list and they could face prosecution by the copyright owners. Fines will range from £5k to £50k and there have already been many instances of UK businesses that have been prosecuted.

A network could be exposed if: 

End users can use Peer-to-Peer applications such as Bittorent
End can access illegal file sharing websites
End users’ web access is not logged

2. How is a WiFi Hotspot provider defined?

Anyone that has a WiFi connection installed is technically seen as a WiFi Provider. If you provide access using a simple WiFi Router, then this is particular risky, including if you are using a static password for your customers to access it.

3. What does it mean for public WiFi Hotspots?

Question: WiFi Hotspots need to have controls in place to ensure that end users are identified and authorised to use the service in the first place with this info logged for future auditing.
Answer: Hotspot network access can only be possible by login using vouchers OR paying for services using credit/debit cards OR registering for free use. We maintain logs on aspects such as: who the end user is, their online sessions, amount of data throughput and so on. We work with you to provide a service that is very simple for you to offer.

Question: The content being accessed needs to be controlled to restrict/prevent illegal downloads using technical controls.
Answer: We use Cloud based services to filter content being downloaded/viewed including circumventing the very tricks to avoid these filters in the first place! These are far superior that the firewall functionality on routers as it is more granular, constantly being updated and managed 24/7. Also, as an added bonus - it speeds up the broadband service. We can also help with related best practices to protect the customer also from non-Hotspot usage (e.g. staff).

For our free guide on the Digital Economy Act Guide – download it here <link to download>