Should the Net be regulated?

weekly roundup In the last couple of years, there's been much debate and controversy swirling around Internet regulation. Some focused on the perennial argument over freedom of speech, while others focused on the concept of Net neutrality.

At the Oxford Media Convention last week in London, the debate took another direction when delegates discussed whether the Internet should be policed under the same rules that currently apply to the broadcast media. With the convergence between traditional broadcasting and new media, one content provider argued that regulatory polices should be kept consistent across the various platforms--new and old.

The problem, though, is that the Internet is not like the TV. A large part of the Net's phenomenal growth lies in its inherent 'free' nature, spawned out of a desire to create an entity that would be open, democratic and transparent.

And unlike TV or even print media, it is next to impossible to police the Internet effectively 24x7.

Instead, Tom Loosemore from the BBC noted that the Internet should be allowed to self-regulate. He said: "The Internet is a remarkable and very fragile thing."

Do you agree? Or, do you think the Internet should be regulated?

This week, Microsoft isn't getting the results it wants and Hewlett-Packard is under some unwanted limelight, again. Also, your company should no longer take too much heat for not being environment-friendly and find out why the open source community is upset with U.K. telco BT.