1. Navigating the Regulatory Sea
IFCLA
Helsinki, 10 June 2010
Graham Smith
Partner, Bird & Bird LLP

2. Convergence
2

3. Convergence - technical
3

4. Convergence – legal/regulatory
4

5. Convergence – legal/regulatory
Policy perspective
Illegal offline >>> illegal online
Platform neutral?
Technologically neutral?
Medium neutral?
Take care what you wish for…
5

6. Convergence
Converging platforms
6

7. Platform/medium convergence
<Telecoms + broadcast?>
7

8. Platform/medium convergence
<Telecoms + broadcast + IT?>
8

9. Platform/medium convergence
<Telecoms + broadcast + IT +
print media?>
9

10. Platform/medium convergence
<Telecoms + broadcast + IT +
print media + UGC>
10

11. Platform/medium convergence – legal and
regulatory
Individual speech
"As the most participatory form of mass speech yet
developed, the internet deserves the highest protection from
governmental intrusion." District Judge Dalzell, ACLU v
Reno, 1996.
11

12. Convergence – legal/regulatory
12

13. Content types
{Voice}
{Text}
{Images}
{Music}
{Video}
13

14. Content types
{Voice}
14

15. Content types
15

16. Content types
{Text}
16

17. Content types
{Images}
17

18. Content types
{Music}
18

19. Content types
19

20. Content types
{Video}
20

21. Content types
21

22. Another dimension
22

23. Another dimension
Geographical
23

24. Geographical
24

25. Geographical
25

26. Navigating the Regulatory Sea
Maps and
charts?
26

27. Expensive. Accurate? Static?
27

28. Useful?
28

29. Another approach
29

30. Navigating the Regulatory Sea
Push the boat out?
Bootstrap to legitimacy?
Kids and grown-ups
30

31. Navigating the Regulatory Sea
The unthinkable will happen to
someone!
CompuServe, Yahoo!, eBay, Google
No perfect course
Risk assessment
31

32. Thank you
Graham Smith
Partner, Bird & Bird LLP, London, UK
graham.smith@twobirds.com