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Summary
Media covers a lot of areas, so bear with me on this section.
BBC - The forced subscription to this channel by law, to all those that own
a Television is astounding considering we now live in an age where equipment
exists that would allow people the choice to subscribe or not. With the annual fee likely to
be around £150 within the next few years, the pressure for making the BBC self
financing is going to relentlessly increase.
The internet has had a profound effect on the UK population. Millions of people
log into their Yahoo!, MSN and other messengers every day, communicating with
friends and family across the planet. Yet despite the level of technology now in
existence, many are still using dial-up modems to connect. A policy of
Fibre to the door should be aimed for - as many other countries are now striving
for.
UK censorship rules has come a long way, since the advent of film and sound, yet
there are still some really backward regulations which mainstream public
broadcasters are required to follow. In a country where freedom of speech is
'supposed' to exist, any individual who wishes to broadcast to the masses, still
has to follow such outdated and restrictive rules. It is time to take a few more
steps forward in allowing people to say what they want, and when they want.
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BBC - Abolish the license fee system
Option 1. Once the analogue transmitters are finally closed down this decade,
and everything is transmitted digitally, the obvious choice is to switch to a
subscription based service using set top boxes - just as SKY Television use.
Option 2. Make the BBC an organisation that is funded primarily via advertising. Transmission of programs - in digital would remain available to anyone, however no one would EVER be expected to pay a licence fee.
Notes...
Take the newspaper analogy. The state government run a
newspaper which you can buy, along with any other newspaper. However, even if
you don't buy the state run newspaper, you STILL have to pay a yearly fee to
the state run paper - the 'newspaper license fee'. Anyone without a license is
not allowed to buy or read a newspaper. This is the crazy situation we live with today.
Even if you only watch SKY TV, you are still legally obliged to pay a
significant amount of money to a state run company. This situation is surely
unacceptable in the 21'st century.
Time to take away the BBC's monopoly
So, I suggest the
TV license fee to be abolished within a 3 year timescale. The BBC should be fully self funded via a
new rationalisation and either full advertising and/or some form of digital
subscription service.
The UK people deserve the freedom to choose what they wish to pay for. If
someone only wishes to watch Sky or any other service and not watch the BBC
service, then they should have that choice.
Mandatory 20Mb Broadband connection 'fibre to the door', to ALL new urban dwellings. BT , and other
mainstream operators should be encouraged to provide fibre to the door if
at all possible.
The South Koreans have shown the way to bring Broadband to the masses. The Government did not install or
provide cable to every house. Instead, the Korean Govt. financed the 'backbone' for the
countrie's internet infrastructure. Once this basic piece of
infrastructure was in place, private companies would do the rest, and South
Koreans are now probably the most wired nation on the planet. Not only does the
average South Korean have an internet connection, but they have super fast
broadband, often at speeds of 20MBs. The UK typical leading Broadband provider
offers a mere 0.5Mb - which is embarrassingly slow compared to the Korean
system.
In the 21'st century, communication is everything, not only is it important to
business for local/international trade, but to the average person for talking
with friends and an array of other uses.
Censorship - UK TV/radio censorship to be overhauled.
1. Film Censorship - the classification of films in the UK is certainly useful,
however certain aspects simple conflict with other laws.
For instance, it is legal to have sex at the age of 16, yet it is illegal as
such to watch 'fake sex' on screen until you are 18 ? So, lets be clear, you can
do it, but you can't watch two people faking it in a movie ? Does this make
sense to you ?
I've heard the argument over and over again, that of 'what if children see this
sort of material?'. What the hell happened to parental responsibility when it
comes to determining what the nations children are able to watch both in and outside
of the home ?
It is time for a UK government to declare a policy of 'parents taking responsibility'
for their children. To some, this may sound insulting - and I agree. Yet, to me,
the very people who complain about sex on TV are those who buy their 9 year old
child a TV for their bedroom - that's what I find lacking in such parents today.
It is not the task of government to regulate what adults can view privately.
2. TV/Radio censorship
The UK laws on Broadcasting are utterly antiquated. Anyone broadcasting is
required to follow a vast set of rules and regulations. Yes, some of these
regulations are appropriate such as making sure broadcasts are not interferring
with public services - such as fire and rescue, but many of the rules are too
restrictive. Why should 'all' radio stations be unbiased ? Why can't someone run
a radio station which is overly liberal, or for that matter highly conservative
?
Do the UK airways have freedom of speech ?
3. Internet - Fortunately, the net is one thing that most governments find hard
to enforce.
Thousands of new websites are created in the UK each week, and it is simply
unfeasible for any govt. - no matter how totalitarian, to monitor and regulate.
China has made a good attempt, but can never stop everything - and neither can
the UK Government.
Wired up : The dawn of the 'global village' is here
In a country where consumers are
free to choose, the TV license fee stands out as a bizarre and outdated means of
the Government
trying to educate the masses. The licence fee system should be abolished within a 3 year timescale.
The Internet has become the dominant means of global communication, and it is
time that every household in the UK has at least the option of a high speed
connection, if South Korea can offer 20MB connections to it's 97% of it's population then
surely the UK can ?
UK censorship rules have certainly progressed somewhat positively over the last
few decades, yet there are still a great many rules which need ditching and
upgrading into the society of the 21'st century - rather than cling to the
values of the Victorian era. Freedom of Speech in the UK still has a fair way to
go, although the Internet is allowing anyone to have their view aired to the
planet.... and beyond.
Links
BBC : The core BBC homepage.
Campaign against net censorship : A
link site for anti-censorship of the net and other matters.
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Page last updated :
23/07/2004
