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The Digital Economy Act has received royal assent, meaning UK file-sharers could now be imprisoned for a decade.

Following a recommendation from the International Property Office, IPO, the maximum prison sentence for copyright infringement in the UK has been increased from two years – to 10.

The IPO had previously commissioned a study that suggested online copyright infringement should carry similar sanctions to those used for counterfeiting offences.

Minister of State for Digital and Culture at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Matt Hancock said: "I'm delighted the Digital Economy Act has become law.

"This legislation will help build a more connected and stronger economy.

"The Act will enable major improvements in broadband rollout, better support for consumers, better protection for children on the Internet, and further transformation of government services."

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It is unlikely casual users who download pirated-content would be hit with the maximum 10 year prison sentence.

This is more likely to apply to those hosting torrent repositories that enable thousands of other internet users to download copyrighted content without permission from the rightholders.

According to a previous Government statement, "a maximum sentence of 10 years allows the courts to apply an appropriate sentence to reflect the scale of the offending."

However some have raised concerns about the wording in the Digital Economy Act.

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A campaign by the Open Rights Group – a digital campaigning organisation that aims to protect the rights to privacy and free speech online – claims the Act criminalises minor copyright infringement.

The Act will enable major improvements in broadband rollout, better support for consumers, better protection for children on the Internet

Matt Hancock

When the Digital Economy Act was still in a Bill in Parliament, the Open Rights Group championed to change the language used in the legislation to make it more specific.

According to the digital campaigning organisation, the Digital Economy Act will criminalise any infringement where money has not been paid for copyrighted content, or where it can be proven that there is a "risk of loss".

That could include people who fileshare, or send copyrighted material as a GIF.

According to the Open Rights Group, the Government has been warned twice that this ambiguous phrasing could help copyright trolls.

Copyright trolls are often legal firms that send out legal warning letters to people suspected of unauthorised downloading of copyright works.

These firms often mail-out the warnings in a scattershot approach, often sending the warnings to people who have never downloaded this type of material.

The trolls threaten court action unless the individual pays a large sum of money.

The Open Rights Group claims that these trolls will be able to send out warning letters threatening users with 10 years imprisonment.

That is surely going to increase their chance of success when targeting people with these mass emails.