ANACOM

e-Book    
TÍTULO/RESP.:

Online protection [documento electrónico] : a survey of consumer, industry and regulatory mechanisms and systems / Office of Communications

AUTOR(ES):

REINO UNIDO. Office of Communications

PUBLICAÇÃO:

[London]: OFCOM, 2006

DESC.FÍSICA:

95 p.

NOTAS:

Over the past decade, the internet has grown to become a central part of the cultural and economic life of many people around the world. It is a powerful platform for the distribution of services to their intended audiences, spanning the world and connecting a global audience with a globally provided set of content and services, and with one another. The internet's flexibility means it has been an engine for innovation, enabling the development of new businesses and new business models, new content and new communications services; and its openness means it has allowed operators of every scale, from multinationals to individuals, to create and offer content and services as well as benefit from them. Alongside global reach, openness and flexibility, many observers attribute the success and importance of the internet to the limited extent of internet service regulation. The regulation of internet services is the subject of significant international debate. Consumers expect to be protected from fraud or other forms of harm; and their children protected from inappropriate content. To date, this protection has been provided largely through a framework of domestic and international statutory regulation which has been evolving for decades. However, the global reach and open nature of the internet gives rise to some well-known problems, which cannot be addressed by a translation of existing powers and structures. These problems include the ubiquitous availability of pornography and increased availability of illegal imagery (e.g. violent pornography, child abuse), and easier access to products and services otherwise tightly-controlled like gambling or prescription drugs. As the UK communications regulator, Ofcom has oversight of the wholesale and retail markets for internet connectivity. We also have a statutory duty to promote media literacy, a role in encouraging audiences to connect to the internet, and in helping them learn how to manage the risks to which they are exposed when online. We therefore have a clear interest in the protection of consumers from harm when they use the internet. Furthermore, the current draft of the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive proposed an extension of a broadcast-like regulatory framework to audiovisual content delivered in other ways - and might therefore require statutory content regulation to be applied to a broad range of internet services. This document is a research report intended to inform the debate about the most appropriate ways to address the consumer protection challenges raised by the internet, such as those identified above. It is a broad survey of the key internet consumer protection issues and the national and international approaches taken to tackling those issues across the world. It does not include policy recommendations, though we do comment on the varying success of some of the initiatives adopted. We can also draw some general lessons from the survey. There is no doubt that consumers will need to bear a greater degree of responsibility when they engage with internet services. Secondly, the broad range of internet services - from e-commerce to VoD to email - will require a broad and flexible set of regulatory solutions. There is no single answer to the issues to which the internet gives rise. However, there are already many factors contributing to consumer protection online, from the application of general law through to initiatives from individual internet players and collective industry bodies like the Internet Watch Foundation. We believe that such self-regulatory initiatives, allied to effective media literacy initiatives and supported by general law, will continue to be the most effective way to deliver consumer protection. We hope that interested parties across industry, government and consumers will respond to the publication of this report with a continuing and open debate about the challenges to which the internet gives rise. In addressing them, the protection of consumers' security and safety will need to be balanced with the preservation of the internet's potential as a platform for innovation.

TEMA:

Comunicações Eletrónicas

ASSUNTOS:

ComunicaçõesInternetComércio eletrónicoProteção dos consumidoresRegulação

CDU:

654

DATA PUB.:

2006

TipoReg:

Material Textual Impresso

LÍNGUA:

ENG

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