Issues around access to online media and access to digital technology were not raised in the Emerging Issues Paper. The Paper did raise a broad range of economic and social policy considerations around convergent media regulation, including Australian and children’s content requirements and the role for government in promoting innovation and diversity.
Emerging issues include:
- Whether regulation should focus on the specific type of service (e.g. television broadcast or website) or on the actual content or service delivery (e.g. a television program broadcast over television or downloaded as an on-demand service)
- Should regulation be ‘heavier’ depending on the ‘degree of influence’ of a particular service or communications medium?
- How the Government should allocate radiofrequency spectrum
The Paper also confirmed ten principles which will guide the Convergence Review Committee’s approach, including two which are new and several which have been amended since the recent Framing Paper was released. Two may be pertinent for any discussion of access to convergent media:
- Principle 2: Australians should have access to and opportunities for participation in a diverse mix of services, voices, views and information
- Principle 8: Australians should have access to the broadest possible range of content across platforms, services and devices
Submissions in response to the Convergence Review as a whole are due by 28 October 2011, and multiple submissions or amended and extended submissions are welcome. DBCDE has advised, however, that for a submission to shape the Discussion Papers (the next stage in the Review process), submissions must be made by the end of July or early August.
We will regularly update our website with our research and submissions over the coming period.
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