Posted: 27th Jan, 2005 By: MarkJ
Westminster today played host to a meeting organised by the UK Internet Services Providers Association (
ISPA) and containing Ofcom. The discussions appear to have centred around Internet regulation, with specific emphasis on the net's growing TV style content:
Lord Currie [OFCOM] did not rule out the possibility of regulation. "The challenge will arise when boundaries between TV and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves," he said.
Some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the UK could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005, and the technology opens the door to TV content delivered over the net.
More and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web. BT has already set up an entertainment division to create and distribute content that could come from sources such as BSkyB, ITV and the BBC.Unsurprisingly ISP's are worried (added cost and legal burdens) and still; perhaps rightly so, consider themselves as little more than "information conduits". Many others, such as Tiscali, feel Internet regulation to be simply impossible.
Suffice to say that the
BBC News Online item does a good job of echoing all the various opposing opinions. What do you think of Internet Regulation? Post a comment.