I have sometimes observed at how complex the world of technology is and how difficult it is for small businesses to know whether they are making the right choices technically. 

As a provider of practically every type of communications service you can think of (satellite is the one I think we have never provided although I’m sure that some one from Timico will now correct me) we not only have to juggle with the technology and the commercial complexities thereof but also with the regulatory minefields that are liberally scattered in our way. 

As a good citizen I am actually happy to be seen to properly negotiate these minefields. My first Internet Service Providers’ Association meeting this morning  brought it home in no uncertain terms the need to have friends that can help you through.

ISPA is or has had recently to deal with subjects ranging from 

• whether ISPs are being fair to consumers in how they advertise their broadband speeds
• is the use of a “fair use” policy fair when your literature majors on “unlimited” broadband
• Net Neutrality and the throttling of certain types of traffic such as peer to peer (remember P2P has legitimate uses as well as illegal ones)
• liability of ISPs in respect of websites hosted on their equipment
• the safety of children on the internet – ref UKCCIS – UK Council for Children Internet Safety
• the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AMSV) and what constitutes TV and should therefore be licensed
• Piracy
• who pays for free content downloaded from the internet (it is possible to put a cost against a 60 minute TV show for example)
• legal intercept of VoIP based telephone conversations
• provision of 999 location based information
• data retention
• should ISPs moderate content on their network

The list is endless and represents rich pickings for the legal profession hovering nearby. I trust that I will be able to provide readers of this blog with suitable insight into these subjects as we move forward.