The progress of the Digital Economy Act was already considered by many as a bodged job and it has been criticised for imposing unreasonable obligations on ISPs without much throught for the consequences.
The law allows for the passing of regulations that would, for the first time, force ISPs to disconnect their customers if intellectual property rights holders believed that an account was used for the unauthorised sharing of copyrighted material.
BT and TalkTalk said in a statement that they are "seeking clarity" from the High Court on the legality of the law's provisions before spending significant sums on systems to implement them.
"The companies share a concern that obligations imposed by the Act may not be compatible with important European rules that are designed to ensure that national laws are proportionate, protect users’ privacy, restrict the role of ISPs in policing the Internet and maintain a single market," said the statement.
