Content licensing opposed

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 18 Aug 2005

The Online Publishers` Association (OPA) and the Media Institute of SA (Misa) have come out strongly against any intention in the draft Convergence Bill of licensing content providers.

Both organisations say this would be against the South African Constitution and affect the principle of free speech that is a bulwark of a democratic society.

Speaking before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications during the public hearings on the draft Convergence Bill, OPA representative JP Farinha said while it seemed the intention was not to license content providers, there were a number of definitions and provisions within the legislation that were confusing and should be amended.

"Definitions that concern the OPA are application, application service licence, communications, communications network, communications network service, content, content service and subscriber," he said.

Farinha proposed solutions that included amendments to definitions to remove ambiguity with respect to content services. That the Bill should not provide for the specific licensing of application services, and so the definitions of application, application service and application service licensees should be deleted entirely from the legislation.

He also suggested the definitions of content and content service be deleted.

Misa`s Rene Smith proposed that the fundamental right to freedom of expression should be included in the preamble of the Bill.

She also said the Bill should be amended to bring it in line with the principles of the Constitution and that section two should be included in the preamble of the Bill.

This section reads: "The primary objective of this Act is to provide for regulation of communication in the Republic in the public interest."

Smith says this will then be consistent with section 192 of the Constitution, which provides for the Independent Communications Authority of SA "to regulate broadcasting in the public interest, and to ensure fairness and diversity of views broadly representing South African society".