A License for Online Content Developers, Obama and GMA
January 22nd, 2009 by cocoyTwo things. This post will be about two different things.
First: Mike Abundo wrote:
I’m attending a hearing tomorrow on a proposal by the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission that will require licenses for online content developers.
Yes, you read that right. The Philippine government wants to require licenses for people to create and post content online. Under the proposal’s extremely broad definition of a content developer, you would need a license just to comment on this post.
Also, momblogger raised the question of “Blogger’s Rights“.
Go read his whole post and momblogger’s and judge for yourselves. I’ll just be right here, twiddling my thumbs. Done? Great! My thoughts on the subject:
ONLINE is about being OPEN. It is a wild, free frontier that no one should contain or govern by themselves. That said, we should have Blogger’s Rights.
The proposed measure says:
WHEREAS, the 1987 Constitution fully recognizes the vital role of communications in nation building and provides for the emergence of communications structures suitable to the needs and aspirations of the nation;
WHEREAS, the promotion of competition in the telecommunications market is a key objective of Republic Act No. 7925 (RA7925, for brevity), otherwise known as The Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which mandates that “a healthy competitive environment shall be fostered, one in which telecommunications carriers are free to make business decisions and interact with one another in providing telecommunications services, with the end in view of encouraging their financial viability while maintaining affordable rates.”
WHEREAS, RA7925 further defines the role of the government to “promote a fair, efficient and responsive market to stimulate growth and development of the telecommunications facilities and services”;
WHEREAS, the provision of contents, information, applications, and electronic games to the consumers creates demand for telecommunication networks and services – the development of contents, information, applications, and electronic games should therefore be encouraged and facilitated;
WHEREAS, the entry of more contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers in the market will result to lower prices benefiting the consumers;
WHEREAS, to further encourage the development of contents, information applications and electronic games, the prevailing access charge regime between the contents, information, applications and electronic games providers and the networks providers which is revenue sharing should be replaced by fixed access charge;
NO more added layer of REGULATION. Government should know the Importance of Private Enterprise in Economic and Social Development.
Seriously.
It just fraks the market up. The market is doing just fine without government poking its nose into something, it clearly has no understanding or interest in learning the culture and norms.
How do you stimulate growth?
Reduce taxes on computers and books and Internet access, and bring the cost of electricity down, to start off. Hell, encourage private enterprises to put up very fast, and reliable Internet access. Look at Japan, and South Korea and take a page from them.
Get better power sources. Heck, if you can encourage the use of Solar, wind or hydro, why the heck not?
Raise incentives for people to do business here and generally lower the cost of doing business in the country.
Encourage literature and creativity because, hello— Online requires creativity as much as intelligence. It requires you to be multi-disciplinary. And this requires being exposed to just about everything.
That is by FAR the best way you can encourage content developers in the Philippines.
“First of all, our President is ahead of Obama and probably, I would think that if there’s anything to be learned, it should be President Obama learning from President Arroyo. And wouldn’t we be proud to say that the Philippines continues to be an ‘island of calm’ because of the present crunches?” he said, when asked by media what lesson Arroyo could learn from Obama.
So full of ourselves, aren’t we? Bring yourselves back to the ground, would you? We have our own problems to worry about than Barack Obama who is doing just fine, I’m quite certain. And who doesn’t need “Leadership” advice.
Oh, one more thing: this particular Press Release from the Palace on Obama being POTUS.44 (thanks to gareon for the heads up),
We are two nations blessed with two leaders bound by the same vision and ideology.
I think someone forgot to change the prepared statement. This is more apt for Bush and McCain regime. Obama is about HOPE and CHANGE, not ARROGANCE and FEAR.
January 22, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I’m attending a hearing tomorrow on a proposal by the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission that will require licenses for online content developers.
Boy they sure didnt waste any time eh? I wasnt expecting anything like this til next year at least. Haha. And I was also expecting them to get creative, not this heavy handed, far-from-subtle approach.
January 22, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I was just over there Cocoy. I think it is a serious development. It will be interesting to see how good their understanding is of the Internet and the World Wide Web. In particular on how they might define certain terms in a proper legal fashion that does not run afoul of the Constitution. Fact, I might just run over there on my bike and check this out…
January 22, 2009 at 2:12 pm
djb,
awesome. please blog more about it? thanks!
cheers.
January 22, 2009 at 2:33 pm
It is a good thing that you pointed to Ms.Dado’s blog. There is a commenter there that explained that the NTC memo has something to do with the developers vis-a-vis the providers (cellphone ringtones/telcos).
he linked the business mirror article.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4505:ntc-issues-draft-circulars-on-content-development-applications-and-ensuring-access-to-limited-band-&catid=33:economy&Itemid=60
January 22, 2009 at 3:23 pm
thanks karl! now its clearer what the idea is.
the goal is to incentivize content developers. instead of a revenue sharing arrangement, they will just pay a fixed fee to use the infrastructure. my question is, why is the revenue sharing so lopsided? it needn’t be that way.
January 22, 2009 at 3:48 pm
GabbyD,
lopsided it maybe but is that any business of the government? the business between developer/creator and telcom/provider is no one else problem, except when they negotiate the contract between themselves.
January 22, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Re: Online Content Development –
We don’t need more regulations to our Freedom of Expression, and of Access to Information. The government has no business regulating content, be it profit or free contents.
Re: Obama and GMA –
It was never Mrs. Arroyo’s policies that saved our economy from the onslaught of the financial crisis, but the policies enacted after the 1997 Asian crisis. For the Palace lackey to claim otherwise smacks of irresponsibility, and outright dishonesty.
But maybe Mrs. Arroyo is trying to get attention from Mr. Obama, after the POTUS has shown overt signs of disregard against Mrs. Arroyo and her government.
January 22, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Word is the NTC hearing was cancelled (via MLQ3). But this needs serious blogger attention. We are in the special category of free free speech — we don’t charge for our products, which are literary and artistic works of expression and opinion. And theoretically, we are not broadcasters, because this is a pull technology not a push technology. Readers have to consciously come to you via a deliberate click, and again theoretically, I could declare my blog a private journal that I only happen to be maintaining in a public place where people might look over my shoulder to read what I have typed. But I am not pushing it on them or selling it to them.
When it comes to the NTC that succored Garci, my bullshit detector is always pegged on the red end of the alarm scale.
January 22, 2009 at 4:33 pm
more than the registration fee issue, im more interested with the flat rate incentive scheme for CP’s. for the longest time, companies like wolfpac and advergaming devs always were at the mercy of the telco. that part of the proposal, which is more clear does make some sense. id love to hear from people working for telco CP’s to chime in.
January 22, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Anything that Government does trips my bullshit detector. Yes this needs serious blogger attention.
January 22, 2009 at 5:27 pm
The problem is that some bloggers have a penchant for selling themselves as “the bloggers” without a thought to what blogging really is: an exercise of the most basic freedom of speech electronically. Walang pinagkaiba sa kwentuhan, sa pagsulat sa diary, pag sulat ng poem o fiction… I find the stupidity offensive. Is Mike Abundo qualified to talk about it? He seems like a character to me.
January 22, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I don’t understand the economic reasons at all. Isn’t this just a decoy to control free speech online?
January 22, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Why can’t government have a telecommunication and Internet secretary? Someone who actually knows something. Stupid laws and the bureaucracy… I think Kafka already wrote something about this.
January 22, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Kafka did. in “The Castle”
January 22, 2009 at 6:22 pm
“Reduce taxes on computers and books and Internet access, and bring the cost of electricity down, to start off. Hell, encourage private enterprises to put up very fast, and reliable Internet access. Look at Japan, and South Korea and take a page from them.”
Yun nga cocoy eh, dapat exempt na ang mga computers sa customs.
The lowest end laptop here is equal to one month’s salary of a mid-level manager. In the US one week lang yan ng barista sa starbucks.
January 22, 2009 at 9:42 pm
The only way to make the content providers’ definition clear is to cite exemptions i.e. blogs, social networking sites etc It is important to attend the next public hearing. With opposition, the memo won’t be passed on first hearing.
January 22, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Noemi, Good idea, calling for an explicit list of exemptions. But
there is not only a Freedom of Expression issue here, which of course is crucial to bloggers, but also a possible regulatory restraint of trade, innovations, and other creative activities for game developers, ring tones, and other commercial content providers. My feeling is, even if bloggers do not charge for access to their blogs (because they didn’t pay for them either!) we must make common cause with those in the commercial realm that would suffer needless regulatory burden from any new proposal. This would include the MSM since they are now in the business of generating digital content too. Of course these disparate interest groups with commercial interests don’t regard license fees the way bloggers would, since they can absorb such fees as costs of doing business and build it into their prices. Since we don’t and couldn’t do that, we are the most vulnerable to any new rules that might be adopted with or without the knowing acceptance of the for-profit digital content providers. We definitely must make our position clear and use the issue to educate and inform the public of possibly sinister moves by an increasingly paranoid government preparing for its dismount of the Tiger, or a continued ride.
The NTC is now under CICT, the ZTE/NBN deal backer at DOTC. OMGSM! They must be trying to raise what they still owe ZTE for its “advance” after the deal went South in the glare of publicity.