Great article in yesterday’s MediaGuardian by David Leigh and Rob Evans about the frail arguments being put forth by the U.K. government to reduce the cost and amount of Freedom of Information (FOI) Act requests, particularly those submitted by journalists.
After skewering the government’s estimate of the burden of FOI requests, the authors write:
A government serious [...]
For those out-of-work intellectual property wonks:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is looking for a European staffer to head up our new Brussels office and round out our international team. This is a new position focused on European Community level intellectual property and civil liberties policy initiatives that impact the digital environment. The position will be [...]
The European Commission is asking some important questions:
‘How should EU policy be designed so as to stimulate the creation and legal distribution of creative online content and services in Europe? What are the obstacles to the implementation of successful new business models? How can public policy promote a satisfactory degree of cultural and linguistic diversity [...]
Ofcom has published an evaluation paper assessing the progress made after its Strategic Review of Telecommunications and the Undertakings agreed to by BT as part of the final settlement in 2005.
Ofcom’s report is an evaluation of the impact of the Telecoms Review on the fixed telecoms market to date. Ofcom have stated that a [...]
Today the Department of Trade & Industry announced the Government’s plans for the future of consumer representation over a range of industries. Under one option in the consultation document of January 2006, the Ofcom Consumer Panel – on which I sit as the member for England – and the FSA Consumer Panel would have gone [...]
Amusing news out of Sweden: Two government ministers have been forced to resign because, among other things, they did not pay the television license fee.
I wonder what insightful blogger (and now foreign minister) Carl Bildt will make of this? Is he on the hot seat as well?
Now that’s a sexy subject … But it’s big bucks and who pays and why are complex and controversial issues.
Ofcom issued a consultation document on “Mobile Call Termination” on 12 September. It is a formidable document of 281 pages. Embarrassingly it subsequently had to issue a list of corrections. The closing date for submissions [...]
The U.K. news media gave good coverage to Mark Thompson’s speech yesterday. Click here for a copy. It is a remarkable speech, not only for the candid line-drawing he makes with respect to what might happen in light of what the BBC considers a low license fee settlement, but also for Thompson’s wide ranging views [...]
Ofcom today publishes qualitative research on how adults, teenagers and children respond when asked to judge whether there should be restrictions on junk food advertising on TV. Strangely, Ofcom did not ask Opinion Leader Research to ask their focus groups directly whether they would support the idea of a pre-watershed ban on the advertising of [...]
I just thought I would link to some more of the recent commentary on Ofcom’s recent transition:
Ian Dale: ‘I am sure Mr Richards is a supremely talented individual, but shouldn’t this particular job be filled by someone without party political bias? Richards was a key adviser to Tony Blair and as a special adviser [...]
“Perhaps the biggest challange [for Richards/Ofcom] is to keep up with the dizzying pace of technological change that is blurring the lines between traditional broadcasting, telecoms, and the internet, potentially taking products and services beyond its [Ofcom's] jurisdication” – FT p.3
I thought I would link to this a recent consumer complaint about the high cost of off-net mobile calls. Click here. It’s a particularly troublesome issue for many consumers because they often have no idea when they are calling off-net.
Ofcom announced today the appointment of Ed Richards as its new CEO, effective today.
Richards (bio here) is of course by now an old-hand at Ofcom and will need no transition to speak of. Richards has already been acting as COO of Ofcom. Richards, however, will face a different set of challenges than his [...]
Yesterday, I spent most of the day at the OECD’s forum on next generation networks (NGN). Some observations:
* The most interesting presentation was from the U.S. carrier Verizon. Verizon clearly know how to sell the benefits of NGN to policy-makers and the public. They are touting the speed and the high-def [...]
Latest from Ofcom