The new Digital Economy Act was slammed as draconian, unworkable and not fit for purpose by media experts at a special debate into the new legislation.

Organised by Wired Sussex, the event failed to find anyone to speak in support of the laws, which came into force just before Parliament was dissolved.

The legislation aims to stop the illegal downloading of copyrighted material by introducing a “three strikes and your out” rule, with the ultimate penalty being internet disconnection.

But according to James McCarthy, director at The Werks, this could have devastating consequences for Brighton’s freelance community, since places offering free wi-fi could be cut off because they would be responsible for what their customers downloaded.

He was one of four experts from Brighton’s digital media community to speak at the debate, which was chaired by Anthony Lilley, chief executive of Magic Lantern and current member of the content board of Ofcom.

Nik Butler, a leading authority on social networking, was critical of the way such an important piece of legislation was rushed through in the last days before the general election was called.

He pointed out that two thirds of MPs did not turn up to vote on the Bill.

Mr Butler said: “This is the thin end of the wedge for more regulation of the internet.”

Matt Adams, artist and founder of acclaimed digital artist collective Blast Theory, said the new laws would be unlikely to protect copyright holders.

He was also concerned that internet service providers could be held accountable for what their customers downloaded.

“That is a dangerous road to go down,” Mr Adams added.

“It would be like the people who run the telephone networks being responsible for what is being spoken.”

The main thrust of the expert’s arguments was that the Act was the result of lobbying from big businesses that are desperate to preserve their old business models.

Mr Butler said: “It is about putting regulatory powers in the hands of large corporations rather than individuals.”

Most of the experts believed illegal file sharing was not as harmful to the media industry as was feared.

They were also confident that most people would use legal sites such as iTunes and Spotify in the future.

However, some opinions were more radical.

Jeremy Keith, musician and director at web design firm Clearleft, said musicians and other artists should accept the fact they would not be paid for work they uploaded on to the internet He added: “I disagree with the fundamental concept that you need money to create content.”