International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

THE INTERNET PRIVACY DEBATE
By Christopher T. Marsden

Download the Paper in PDF Format: IJCLP Web-Doc 14-6-2001

Abstract

Reviewing four conferences, the author examines in turn the current state of broadband market and policy development in [a] infrastructure investment; [b] TV intellectual property rights in the on-line environment; [c] the streaming media market which is currently dominated by audio servers (essentially recorded music); and [d] the Internet Service Provider market. It will be seen that in real property (local loop and radio spectrum), intellectual property (TV and music rights) and the services offered by intermediaries (ISP portals), the development of markets has been severely hampered by the failure to delimit and efficiently transfer property rights. It is not an exaggeration to state that the development of the concept of property rights, together with a consistent and measured examination of the public interest in regulating and assigning those rights, are the primary challenges for both governments and market actors, beyond even the extraordinary pace of technological innovation which is creating the space within which those rights will be exercised.

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