Looking To The Future From The Beginning

The internet is not in Ofcom�s remit.

So it was interesting to see the regulator highlight in its recently published proposed Annual Plan increased consumer concern about internet content as being a key regulatory challenge for 2004/5.

The reality is dawning. A regulator with no oversight of the central pillar of convergence will be limited in its ability to apply coherent regulation. The result is identical content delivered across platforms regulated through different regimes.

As the net becomes a substitutable content delivery platform the regulator is in danger of being left to apply redundant tiered content codes to broadcasters whilst viewers increasingly watch online.

In addition, consumers are starting to take control. Filtering technologies are putting regulation in the hands of the homeowner. It�s the ultimate in self-regulation.

So where will this leave Ofcom in five or so years� time?

For the moment, the threat posed to traditional broadcasting models remains somewhat hypothetical. There is still much development required in order to reach bandwidth capacity that consistently replicates broadcast quality.

In addition, the cost of broadcasting across the internet is prohibitive, in comparison to the marginal costs associated with traditional broadcasting models.

None the less, the time will quickly come when the new regulatory regime will begin to look distinctly old school.

It is important � both for consumers and the market - to have Ofcom engaged in these debates early, ahead of the technology curve, prepared for when the debate comes, ready with key research, alternate scenarios and choices.

Total regulatory withdrawal may ultimately win through. But it also might not. Regulation is not merely an all or nothing equation as some pundits would have us believe.

Indeed, in the first instance, it is likely that there will continue to be a degree of consumer demand for content that meets the criteria in terms of quality, diversity, and impartiality.

Such demands not easily met by filtering technologies � not least because such demands are somewhat personal and subjective and are difficult to define in ways that are correctly applied by software.

There are further issues.

With device convergence, content will potentially be delivered via different platforms within a single piece of hardware. Consumers will be faced with a mass of competing content spread across a range of delivery platforms. Navigation technologies will be power.

Content is also likely to be significantly different from what we have seen before, perhaps even an amalgamation of advertising and original material. Media literacy will be essential if consumers are to understand what they are getting, and from where.

It is also likely that Digital Rights Management (DRM) tools will dictate the use of the content delivered. This technology will pose interesting questions for regulators, particularly as rights are used to leverage a position in the market.

Ultimately, Ofcom�s role in this new world should be to find out what people want and how they can assist the market in providing it. This is not necessarily interventionist. And it certainly doesn�t require the government to start regulating the internet.

But it will require the regulator to ensure that new delivery methods, new browser technologies and filtering systems allow the market to function freely.

This is the regulators role � to ensure vibrant markets that deliver for consumers whilst protecting the interests of citizens. Whether content regulation will continue or not in a world where content can be delivered by the net and controlled by viewers is somewhat irrelevant.

It is relevant, however, that we have a regulator who is looking to understand and engage in the future of the market from the beginning.