Ofcom blows hot air in regulation threat?

The message came from Ofcom chairman Lord Currie while speaking at a regulation debate concerning the web, at which he was joined by members of the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA),l including Tiscali and BT, and the Liberal Democrat minister for IT, Richard Allan.

The Internet currently falls outside Ofcom's wide remit. However, technological advances such as video on demand and broadcasting via broadband meant content on the web was becoming an increasing concern.

"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," said Lord Currie.

Should Ofcom be charged with regulating the Internet, then new measures could help police copyright laws while also assist in protecting children from watching harmful content.

BT, however, was keen to point out that the Internet has no watershed and suggested it should remain regulation free.

Richard Allan MP was also vocal in describing such regulation as sitting between being impossible to effect and simply applying offline laws to the online model, something which has proved pointless in the past.

The ISPA, meanwhile, raised the findings of the Law Commission in 2002, which concluded that service provides are "mere conduits" of the content they carry and not responsible for its nature.