Not long ago it was hard to move without someone telling you the world was about to descend into a jackbooted authoritarian dystopia. Why? The last Labour government was passing something called the Digital Economy Act, and it would turn ISPs into snoopers and send masked men out into the night, breaking down doors and smashing the iPads of fearful 'filesharers' who had transgressed the copyright laws.

<a href="http://davidhewson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/freetard_demo_stop_this_sort_of_thing.jpeg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-8214" title="freetard_demo_stop_this_sort_of_thing" src="http://davidhewson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/freetard_demo_stop_this_sort_of_thing-203x300.jpg" alt="" width="203" height="300" /></a>The anti-DEA propaganda was a fad wonderfully prosecuted by Twitter with all the logic and rational argument 140 characters can muster. I never looked at it very closely to be honest. Something about the whole thing stunk. The apex -- or apogee depending who to believe -- <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/25/org_demo_photo_album/" target="_blank">happened on March 25 last year</a> with a small protest outside Westminster attended by fellows wearing black tape over their mouths or masks like this chap on the right.

Oh, and inevitably Mr Cory Doctorow turned up to deliver one of this customary apocalyptic warnings, urging that the DEA be voted with the words (no, I am not making this up), 'Tell your friends. It's our last chance for a free and open society going forward.'

As Orlowski noted at the time, 'I particularly liked the going forward.'

The DEA did go through Parliament. When the new coalition government came in then announced they still thought it was reasonable legislation too, er, 'going forward'.

So BT and TalkTalk, two companies notorious for the rotten way they treat their customers, went to law to try to defeat it here. Yesterday they lost. If you followed the original campaign and thought, 'Hmm... there must be something in all these dire predictions' I suggest you take a look at Orlowski's revealing analys