The Australian government has put the lid on uncertainty in the Internet industry, announcing Wednesday that Net audio and video streaming are not defined as broadcasting services.
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston was required by the digital television legislation in June to conduct a review into whether streamed audio and video content over the Net should constitute as broadcasting and therefore require a licence.
With no more broadcasting licences to be doled out for six years, tension heightened in the Internet industry.
There has been a level of "uncertainty hanging over the head of anyone with an investment in broadband," Peter Coroneos, executive director of the Internet Industry Association (IIA), told ZDNet Australia.
Coroneos explained that a lot of the investment in broadband in Australia is predicated on the assumption that it's legal to stream multimedia content to the Net.
"Streaming represents a big attraction for online users by adding a richness to Internet content, and will be in greater demand as access moves progressively to broadband," Coroneos said.
Alston's decision means that investments in broadband can proceed with "far more certainty than existed before," according to Coroneos.
Alston's determination isn't legislative and won't lead to an amendment to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. However, the IIA which envisages Australia as a vibrant place for dynamic and diverse not "hamstung in same way as datacasting," doesn't believe there's any reason the decision would be reversed.
