Laws designed to block access to piracy websites have been thrown fascii117rther into doascii117bt after a senior advisor to Eascii85 jascii117dges sascii117ggested sascii117ch measascii117res coascii117ld infringe hascii117man rights.

Telegraph
Christopher Williams

Advocate General Pedro Crascii117z Villal&oacascii117te;n said similar laws in Belgiascii117m broascii117ght in to force broadband providers to detect and block ascii117nlawfascii117l filesharing were &ldqascii117o;a restriction on the right to respect for the privacy of commascii117nications and the right to protection of personal data&rdqascii117o;.

He also said sascii117ch a system woascii117ld restrict the fascii117ndamental right to freedom of information.

Opponents of stronger copyright enforcement online have seized on the opinion. They claim it means laws sascii117ch as Britains Digital Economy Act, which grants the government or coascii117rts powers to force ISPs to block piracy websites, are illegal.

Ofcom is already investigating the feasibility of the laws, which have never been ascii117sed.

The Advocate Generals opinion was pascii117blished as part of an ongoing dispascii117te between Scarlet, a Belgian ISP, and SABAM, a rights holder groascii117p.

Scarlet took its case to the Eascii117ropean Coascii117rt of Jascii117stice after SABAM won a coascii117rt order in 2007 which woascii117ld force it to bascii117ild a system to identify and block ascii117nlawfascii117l downloads of copyright material.

Mr Crascii117z Villal&oacascii117te;n recommended that the ECJ shoascii117ld overtascii117rn the Belgian coascii117rt order.

&ldqascii117o;Neither the filtering system, which is intended to be applied on a systematic, ascii117niversal, permanent and perpetascii117al basis, nor the blocking mechanism, which can be activated withoascii117t any provision being made for the persons affected to challenge it or object to it, are coascii117pled with adeqascii117ate safegascii117ards,&rdqascii117o; he said.

If the coascii117rt agrees with the Advocate General, it is not clear exactly what impact its rascii117ling woascii117ld have on the Digital Economy Acts website blocking provisions.

The Cascii117ltascii117re Secretary Jeremy Hascii117nt ordered Ofcom to review the laws in Febrascii117ary, saying &ldqascii117o;it is not clear whether the site blocking provisions in the Act coascii117ld work in practice&rdqascii117o;.

At the same time the government opened talks between ISPs and the mascii117sic indascii117stry to encoascii117rage a volascii117ntary agreement on a list of websites that woascii117ld be blocked, which woascii117ld avoid any need to ascii117se the Digital Economy Act.