Implementation of the act, which was approved last year, had been held up following a legal challenge by BT and TalkTalk. However, a court ruling last month dismissed their concerns.

Speaking at the Book Industry Conference in London this morning (16th May), Pearson UK president Rod Bristow said as demand increases for digital content, piracy will increase. He said: "It is vital that the [Digital Economy Act] is implemented speedily and effectively to put vital protection mechanisms in place to protect IP."

However, he added the bigger threat to IP than piracy was the threat to copyright itself.  He said: "The rise of the internet has led to a view among some people and some technology companies that copyright is just an irritant; that the real value today is not in creating content but in finding it. It's as though creativity is redundant now that everything has been created."

The Bookseller