I went to the bi-monthly Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) board meeting today. ISPA has four new council members representing BT, Eclipse Internet, Everything Everywhere and O2.
That these large organisations are keen to participate in the running of the ISP industry Trade Association is a reflection of the amount of legislative activity going on surrounding the internet in the UK.
I’d go so far to say that government attempts to regulate the internet are currently at an unprecedented level – I guess as our daily lives move into the cloud this is not a surprise but should not be seen as inevitable.
The list below shows the government consultations that affect ISPs that have been ogoing over the last 6 months
BIS Consultation on NGA Fund (1st April)
Welsh Language Committee Inquiry (11th May)
BIS Consultation on Costs in DE Act (25th May)
DE Act Initial Obligations Code (30th July)
Net Neutrality (9th September)
EU e-Commerce Directive (15th October)
The output of some of these consultations potentially have a huge effect and attract a high level of interest during the process. The Digital Economy Act Initial Obligations Code for example attracted around 180 responses.
ISPA does a great deal of work on behalf of the industry (and ultimately on behalf of the consumer) in steering a course through these attempts to load cost and process on ISPs.