Executive Summary
It is often claimed that current trends towards convergence between the telecommunications, media, and information technology sectors necessitate some measure of adaptation of the regulatory system. In this Law & Policy Review, the phenomenon of convergence is being analyzed from a legal perspective with a view to the Global Information Infrastructure and the Global Information Society (GII-GIS) and international trade regulations.
As this study will describe in some detail, convergence constitutes an indispensable precondition for the Information Society, and major institutions including the European Union, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development have declared their intention to support convergence and the creation of the Information Society. All of which makes it imperative that regulations be pro-competitive and supportive of convergence.
In the final analysis, the choice between various future regulatory models, principles and policies, as well as between doctrines such as “minimalist” or “maximalist,” should take duly into account the pro-competitive and potentially anti-competitive effects of such intervention upon convergence.
Where regulation would supposedly be counter-productive to the aim of promoting convergence, such regulation should be avoided altogether, unless essential considerations – e.g. of a technical, cultural or societal nature – mandate otherwise. If regulations of such a nature are applied, they should be carefully designed in order to minimize any negative effects upon convergence.
Even where it is found that regulation has a positive role to play due to its ability to promote convergence, any regulations should be critically evaluated so as to minimize any potential adverse effects and in order to maximize their efficiency and other benefits.
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