Information Society Forum Theme Paper

European Union

Introduction
Theme 1: The Impact on Organisations and the Way we Work
Theme 2: Individual Access within the Information Society
Theme 3: Social and Democratic Life in the "Virtual Community"
Theme 4: Towards more Transparent and Better Quality Public Services
Theme 5: The Cultural Dimension
Theme 6: Protection of the Individual
Theme 7: Education and Training in the Information Society
Theme 8: Ahieving global Sustainable Development
Theme 9: The Future of Multi-Media

Introduction

The rapid integration of information and communication technologies into our professional and private lives is transforming our society into the "information society". From a technical point of view processing, storage and transmission of information in any form (oral, visual and written) are made possible without any constraint, neither spatial nor temporal. Consequently information can become accessible for anyone, in any form, and anywhere. Indeed, information can increasingly be regarded as a basic economic resource and a structuring factor for our society.

These developments are unstoppable and gathering speed. The Information Society carries along with it a host of new economic and social opportunities whilst giving rise to some profound changes and important challenges. It may cause new problems as well as providing solutions for others. There is a general lack of awareness about the advent of an information age and the impacts it could have on society, and often people feel threatened by the introduction of new information and communication technologies. How the information society really does affect our lives in the future also depends on what political choices are made today. It is therefore important to bring these issues out into the open so that we can give shape to the future and exploit the potential of the Information Society whilst avoiding the risks.

Based on the recommendations of the High Level Group (Bangemann) Report, the Commission presented its Action Plan, "Europe's Way to the Information Society", to the Council and Parliament last July. The Action Plan gives guidelines for activities at European level in the areas of liberalisation and the regulatory framework, the development of networks and applications, the social, societal and cultural aspects, and promotional activities.

The necessity of liberalisation of the European telecommunications markets has been widely recognised. The enormous investments that are needed to build the networks, services and applications of the information society and to give citizens access to them mean that private capital has to be heavily involved. Liberalisation is a prerequisite, a necessary condition for setting up the information infrastructure. But it is not sufficient.

The European approach goes beyond the implementation of a regulatory framework or the creation of an information infrastructure in a technological and economic sense. The concept of "information society" expresses the European Union's desire to look at the whole picture. We are anxious to prevent the creation of a two-tier society in which only part of the population has access to the new technology (and therefore to valuable information resources), is comfortable using it and can fully enjoy its benefits.

As set out in the Action Plan, the European Commission's work will also focus on the social, societal and cultural aspects of the Information Society.

The Information Society Forum is being established to enable the participation of all the parties concerned and to encourage open debate on the developments and challenges of the information society. It will thereby support the European Commission's activities in this area.

The purpose of this document is to provide the members of the Information Society Forum with a starting point for discussion on the kinds of issues that could be examined as part of their work. The document introduces a number of different themes which could serve to define the work of the different working groups.

Each section is structured in the following way. It begins with a general description of the trends observed followed by a short analysis of the potential positive impacts and potential risks. At the end of each theme a non-exhaustive list of "points for debate" are suggested.

THEME 1:the impact on organisations and the way we work

Under the pressure of global competition and as the use of information and communication technologies increases, organisations and the way they employ people are changing. Re-engineering, downsizing, decentralisation, flattening of hierarchies, networking of self-directed firms, total quality management, part-time working and teleworking are all part of the same inevitable process of re-adjustment to a new environment - that of the post-industrial information society.

Even as the economy recovery gathers strength, the drive to reduce fixed costs, improve productivity, increase flexibility and improve quality of services will continue to dictate corporate decisions on employment. Restructuring and use of flexible working patterns have become imperatives for large employers.

• Under increasing economic pressure new company structures are emerging. Companies are adapting their structures to become more competitive. They tend to be more and more organised as a network of processes and to be decentralised, distributed, collaborative (vital functions are outsourced to competitors, to their mutual benefit) and adaptive (shifting from products to services).

In offering new and efficient communication facilities, the information society can only speed up these developments. These facilities can encourage and support the new structures by improving communication between employees and customers, and provide the means for co-ordination between the different activities and components of these new forms of organisation. Faced with these changes people will need to adapt. One means of helping Education and training facilities will have to be adapted to these new requirements in the professional world to ensure that people are properly prepared for work in a new environment.

The "re-engineering" of companies produces greater flexibility, which is achieved through the use of part-timers, associates and out-sourced workers whose membership is flexible and temporary. This may raise difficulties in relation to adjustments of the social system and to the basic rights of employees.

• Teleworking covers a wide range of activities. It includes home teleworking, satellite centre working (where an office provides the means for one firm's employees to work at a distance from the firm), telecentre working (where an office is shared by several firms), distance group working and teleservices provision as in telesecretariats, and telemaintenance.

Telework allows more flexibility for the employee in their management and use of time and increases mobility by offering possibilities of location-independent work. It offers new employment opportunities arising from increased productivity and through a better response to market demand by improved management of human resources. Teleworking opens up new opportunities for more work for disadvantaged people and for less-favoured regions. The main areas of potential application are in data and text processing, programming, writing, editing, translating, marketing and training, and research/consultancy activities.

However it may also lead to isolation from fellow employees and from management. A task for the social partners will be to propose measures to prevent teleworking becoming a means for firms to by-pass current employment obligations and conditions. Teleworking and the rise of self-employed/part-time/contract working raises important questions for welfare policies. New employment legislation may be necessary to ensure that workers' interests are taken into account. Cross-border teleworking may also encounter legal obstacles for which solutions will have to be found, or new legislation may be necessary where none has existed before.

• The development of high speed networks and advanced services will induce a new distribution of international labour. Companies will no longer consider distance as a barrier to implement subsidiaries or to start up new firms in other regions and countries. This can be viewed as an opportunity to better exploit local "niches" and maintain activities in European areas. In facilitating the exploitation of highly skilled workforce telework can contribute to a decreased brain drain and fix in Europe groups of experts in specific domains. Nevertheless it could lead to an exploitation of non-European human resources and encourage outsourcing of jobs around the globe, including white collar workers (e.g. software production in Asia).

THEME 2: INDIVIDUAL ACCESS WITHIN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

The more people will have access to information and to networks, the richer will be the information society. Without ensuring open and easy access to people we may see emergence of "info-elitism" or two-tier society of info-rich and info-poor. Two major obstacles to access are of a social and geographical nature.

• From a social point of view exclusion already exists in our society under various forms: Unemployment, age, handicaps etc.. Teleworking provides handicapped people with possibilities to integrate a working process. A real-time knowledge of the employment market, of available jobs can be achieved by electronic means, which contributes to the improvement of the employment situation. Telework can help introduce new flexibility into employment and reduce social exclusion by a better exploitation of existing niches.

Access to information infrastructure for already excluded people need to be developed to create motivation and decrease the gap between the computer-literate and others. Distance learning facilities can accelerate people's integration and provide new educational opportunities including long-life learning.

The new information infrastructure may encourage social groups sharing the same interests, the same characteristics, to create their own electronic identity and to communicate via electronic means. These groups will improve the social cohesion and reduce isolation by facilitating contacts between people from their homes. Handicapped or elderly people may correspond from home with doctors, hospitals, administrations.

Nevertheless risks exist that the information society could reinforce the exclusion process or even create new exclusion mechanisms. Teleworking from the home can lead to isolation from colleagues or even family. Poorly trained people may have difficulties in using new technologies. This may be particularly true for the elderly who may show reluctance or even feel threatened. Finally the exponential increase of information flow raises the problem of its exploitation by non computer-literate. All the facilities in terms of democracy and interaction could be endangered by the uncontrolled expansion of information.

• From the geographical point of view, we observe a tendency in some regions that businesses and people abandon remote areas to locate nearer to the major cities and towns, reducing the potential for development. This trend also puts pressure on the social and economic structures of cities (sprawling suburbs and ghettos). At the European level these problems give rise to economic and social imbalances between rich and poor regions.

By removing the spatial constraints the information infrastructure has a direct impact on geographical exclusion. The development of decentralised company structures, of teleservices and of teleworking could help to redistribute economic activities and revitalise community life, encourage regional development and redirect resources away from large centres.

Citizens and administrations can benefit from access to information resources normally only available in large towns and cities. Some education and health services could be provided locally with the help of telematics and on-line multimedia programmes and services. Small hospitals or medical facilities in rural areas which are today endangered can be revitalised by high speed connections to big hospitals, sophisticated equipments. Some companies and service activities (telesecretariat, electronic publishing, accountancy etc..) have already moved from big cities to rural areas where renting costs and sometimes salaries are lower.

These developments could give rise to a situation where different regions compete to attract investments. This may either increase current regional discrepancies, or create new ones in the absence of a level of playing field (access conditions, employment cost differences etc..).

THEME 3:social and democratic life in the "virtual community"

The current development of electronic tools such as electronic mail and on-line services provided by the Internet and others are already giving rise to profound changes in the ways people interact. We are experiencing the emergence of "virtual communities" in which people can exploit new facilities to exchange information, participate in political life and interact with other people.

• The information society provides new fora for public opinion formation and expression. Interest groups and lobbying organisations are already benefitting in their internal organisation as well as in their activities from the use of electronic networks.

New channels are opened up through which citizens and interest groups can participate in a decision-making process and help improve internal coordination between people sharing the same interest.

The information society is bringing about an enrichment of democratic life by giving citizens a new support for free expression and discussion of ideas. These new public spaces have no spatial limits ("global village") as do traditional fora such as public halls, churches or the market place. International problems such as the environment can be discussed simultaneously by people in different countries.

Nevertheless, there is a risk that the creation of virtual interest groups or organisations could lead to the fragmentation of public opinion as people focus increasingly on individual issues rather than on policies. The fragmentation of public opinion and the formation of single-issue groups or political parties may increasingly expose the political establishment to the influence of unelected lobbyists where commercial interests prevail.

Electronic networks can also help support the electoral process through the provision of information on political candidates, manifestos, and for opinion polls. By using networks for their campaigning and internal organisation political parties could also benefit by improving communication between members and potential voters.

To what extent our parliamentary democracies will or should be transformed into a more direct system is a key political question. Indeed, the ability to reach large numbers of individuals by means of electronic networks could encourage instantaneous consultations of an often reactionary electorate on new policies or legislation without recourse to Parliament. This could gradually undermine the authority of elected representatives and parliament itself.

• Electronic facilities are already supporting new forms of interaction between people. They are allowing people to interact worldwide through teleconferencing and electronic mail. New interaction mechanisms integrating voice, text and images are emerging.

As E-mail is increasingly used in the home one can envisage it becoming a powerful new means of personal correspondance. Teleconferencing allows direct interaction between people and offers multimedia facilities to exchange documents, slides and voice. It already allows a significant exchange of information between delocalised institutions and helps to reduce costly travel expenses.

The new Information Infrastructure might improve interaction between people: Groups of users of specific technologies, of consumers, of players, etc. can be developed. People might use electronic mail or electronic bulletin boards to look for a job or a baby-sitter, to rent a flat, etc. Instead of using newspapers, instead of pinning up pieces of paper in shops, people will be able from home to express their needs and to get almost real-time answers to their requests. New markets may open, new ways of reacting, of interacting (for instance via electronic fora) will enrich social life and open a new communication area.

However, virtual communities can reduce direct contact between people. A lack of physical contact between human beings can lead to social dislocation, cause new forms of isolation and even solitude. The perception of reality itself may be altered (virtual reality). While new communication services would emerge, existing ones (i.e. postal services) may gradually or partially be replaced, or be confronted with profound structural readjustments.

THEME 4:towards more transparent and better quality public services

The new means of communication will create a new relationship between citizen and administrations at local, regional and state levels. They may help improve the awareness of legal decisions and of local initiatives related to leisure and socio-professional training and revitalise social life. They may also help bring citizens and administrations closer together.

Telematics or the provision of services using computers linked up to telecommunications networks will alter the provision of educational and health services, allowing them to be received remotely through tele-education and tele-diagnosis. This could lead to a reassessment of the organisation of administrations and of the way they provide services.

• Advanced communication services can help to improve the relationship between citizens and administrations. The use of electronic networks and on-line services for the dissemination of government and public information by public administrations can make a major contribution to improving transparency in government activities and increase the dialogue between citizens and government officials, at European, national, regional, and local levels.. Services of this kind can have a significant impact on improving public awareness of government activities and be an extremely important source of information for a variety of different users.

Public authorities are among the largest suppliers and users of information. Information is often a valuable resource held in trust by different public authorities, such as museums and libraries, on behalf of the people. The ease of world communications facilitates the transfer of control over these resources to outside entities, raising question about exploitation rights. On the otherhand, citizens' access to public information may prove to be difficult in practice. Theoretical freedom of access to government information is of little use to the citizen if in practice no facilities are set up for collecting and supplying the data in question. Measures may be necessary to ensure that reliable data will be practically available as well as technically accessible.

• The information society will not only change the way people communicate and make contact with each other, but also affect the way they receive public services. As pressure is brought to bear on public expenditure and governments are forced to cut the welfare budget, the quality and effectiveness of public services is declining. Many governments are looking for ways of reducing their health or education budgets while maintaining and improving quality standards.

Advanced communication services and applications can help improve the quality of public services and reduce the costs associated with their provision. They can improve links between citizens and administrations, leading to more participation and transparency, and help respond to individual needs. Applications that are adapted to the needs of the elderly and handicapped people may help reduce isolation and the exclusion of these groups.

The transfer of data and images is already beginning to have an impact on the management and processing of information (e.g. medical files or public library catalogues) and improve their accessibility in medical institutions, for example. Image transfer can significantly accelerate diagnosis and enable hospitals to share costly equipment. Education applications can make learning more interactive and fun and allow teaching to be more tailored to individual needs and capabilities.

By introducing the possibility of pay-per-use services, information and communication technologies can have a profound impact on the organisation, financing and delivery of public services. It will allow the public sector to supply services on a commercial basis thus opening up possibilities of partnerships with the private sector which help reduce the financial burden and boost employment. Such fundamental changes will undoubtedly require new skills and adaptable workforces.

Service providers, doctors and teachers will all have to adapt to this new environment. Teachers, for example, will still have an essential role to play but will no doubt have less control over the information their students receive. Such adaptation will have to be integrated into new training schemes and in the preparation of educational programmes. Similarly receiving health services electronically may not be easily accepted by individuals who are used to having personal contact with a doctor or a nurse.

The supply of public services on a commercial basis raises questions about the division of responsibilities between public and private authorities, and about the status of the employees.

THEME 5: the cultural dimension

Europeans are generally very proud of their national heritage and culture. They consider it an essential part of their history and identity, as well as being an important element in their daily life. The European Union is keen to promote the maintenance of cultural and linguistic diversity as part of the unique wealth of Europe. However, cultural and linguistic diversity is also a major challenge in Europe both as an obstacle to communication and to the development of a large single market for European goods.

Advanced communication services offer new possibilities for the production and the distribution of different forms of cultural expression. By placing cultural and entertainment activities such as the theatre, opera, and museums online (e.g. online pay-per-view services, virtual museums, video on demand) may allow them to be enjoyed by more people thereby increasing the cultural and linguistic diversity of audiences.

The abundance of new channels and media space may create niche markets for small companies and local actors who can supply more specialised services which correspond better to the specific needs of the individual.

Access to a global network can provide cultural and linguistic minorities with the opportunity to give global expression to their cultural identity, greatly increasing the distribution potential of their cultural "production" which has traditionally been limited to very localised markets.

The transmission of voice, text, or images made possible by digital technology provides new channels for cultures whose means of expression is limited, for example to the voice or image, with no written language.

The use of digital techniques may gradually reduce the cost of content production allowing a profusion of diverse creators to emerge. The combination of reduced costs and better access may be the best recipe for ensuring that content is culturally diverse.

On the other hand, the high costs involved in developing new electronic media content may mean that larger companies dominate the market or swallow up the smaller producers. There is a risk that control over content will be concentrated in a few hands. Such a risk raises questions about media ownership and plurality. It is therefore essential that both the means to access content as well as to create it are improved.

Multimedia services may begin to replace going to the theatre or cinema, or visiting a museum leading to their decline. Alternatively, they may live side by side as has been the case for television and the cinema and simply provide a new means of distribution and a new form of cultural expression (in multimedia form).

THEME 6:protection of the individual

Along with all the person-to-person communications exchanged on the world's telecommunications networks are vast flows of other kinds of personal information: credit card information, transaction processing, and health information, for example. Without any effective protection mechanisms most of the benefits of the information society could be lost. Data protection is required for all commercial transactions, including information on credit cards. Similarly protection of personal information is necessary if people are to feel comfortable about using the information infrastructure. Sophisticated encryption techniques already exist but raise questions about state interference on national security and crime prevention grounds.

In a democratic society freedom of expression and protection of the individual are highly valued. The information society will add a new dimension to these issues. One example is the challenge of how to protect people from electronic crimes without infringing on their privacy?

Information exchange today is still very much paper-based: cheques are sent by postal mail; people copy personal documents (social security, medical records etc ..) to send them to administrations; enterprises archives are full of personal data, including medical records, on employees which can be misused. Today's information system does not adequately prevent fraud or other information-related abuses. In the information society digitalised information can be safeguarded using reliable protection mechanisms (e.g. encryption algorithms. Digitalised information systems are stored on supports which are less accessible than the current archiving systems. Finally, more reliability in information circulation can be expected from electronic means than from paper exchange.

Nevertheless electronic surveillance could invade people's privacy and digital techniques may be used to distort personal information such as health records. Traditional notions of privacy are being challenged on several fronts by the ease of collecting and disseminating detailed information about individuals on the networks.

Limits to the right to privacy and freedom of speech are defined by moral standards on which legislation on slander, pornography, and incitement to racial hatred is based. These standards often differ from one culture or nation to the next. Information travelling on the neworks that is accepted in one country may be considered in another as socially or economically damaging, raising new problems for censorship and protection of the individual.

The explosive growth of electronic financial and commercial transactions, trade and teleshopping open up new opportunities for fraud. This may involve the "capturing" of payment or personal details on a network and their use in fraudulent transactions or in infringements of privacy. Electronic fraud can easily take place internationally, adding to the complexity of the problem. In the case of transnational electronic crimes, it is not always clear who is responsible for their investigation, for the prosecution of the criminals, or for insurance purposes. The situation may arise where criminals choose to act from a country without extradition agreements, or from a country without a sufficiently sophisticated police force to catch them.

The advent of electronic information networks alter our traditional notions of what is regarded as public information. Personal information such as the register of births, deaths and marriages has traditionally been publicly available. Information networks will make such information globally accessible. Will people accept that such information be accessible to casual browsers worldwide?

THEME 7: education and training in the information society

In nearly all European countries there is an ever-widening gap between the education that people need for today's complex world and the education they receive. Too many disillusioned young students drop out of educational systems through failure or rebellion, or come through with only minimal skills. This is a major economic and social concern, since it leads to the waste of human potential. It is particularly acute at a time when fewer new people than before are available to enter the labour markets.

Interactivity enabled by information and communication technologies and the use of multimedia educational software is a powerful means for individualising the learning process. It can contribute towards the modernisation of pedagogical methods (learner-centred, learner active), facilitate life-long learning and training, and provide new possibilities for distance-learning.

Placing educational programmes online can increase people's access to life-long learning facilities. Life-long learning and training enables companies to develop their human resources and individuals to upgrade their skills in parallel with changes in demands at work.

Interactive multimedia techniques enable students to benefit from a wide range of learning resources wolrdwide. They can also enable the learner to access and interact with educational material that corresponds closely with their needs. These new techniques are therefore well-adapted to new pedagogical methods which are moving from teacher-centred to learning-centred.

Budgetary restrictions mean that schools and universities cannot afford the new technology and find it hard to keep pace with technological progress, with new systems rapidly becoming obsolete.

The development of information and communication technologies create new training needs. Teachers feel threatened as new techniques and teaching methods are introduced. The challenge for teachers, trainers and tutors is not only to become "computer literate" but to exploit efficiently the technology by putting it at the service of active teaching and learning methods. This implies that multimedia products (both titles and tools) will have to incorporate sufficient flexibility of use to be integrated into the different learning environments and respond to new requirements: personal development, preparation for the world of work, adaptation to change, social and professional promotion.

THEME 8: achieving global sustainable development

With the Maastricht Treaty a "harmonious and balanced development of economic activities, sustainable and non-inflationary growth respecting the environment" has become one of the principle policy objectives of the European Union. The principle of sustainable development the generally accepted definition of sustainable development is that "current generations should meet their needs without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Linking economic and social development to improvement of the environment is a first step in that direction. However, making the concept of sustainability precise and easily applicable in practice has proved difficult.

The underlying question is the degree to which the information society will allow the substitution of telematic based services for material (raw materials, energy) and personal transport, in short the potential for de-materialisation of our social and economic system.

Reductions of raw material and energy have always been achieved in the past as a result of technological change. Indeed, so far experience has demonstrated the potential of new materials (lighter, with less damage to the environment) such as aircraft composites or biologicals . Another example is re-engineering business processes to reduce environmental impact, for instance smaller and lighter products cuts down on warehousing and transportation. However, this reduction has normally been over-compensated by increasing consumption.

Research is showing that current models of economic activity are unsustainable in environmental, economic and social terms, as we move towards the 21st century. What may be required is a more comprehensive approach which takes into account the whole cycle of a product: the production inputs (not only in energy terms, but all resources exploited for its manufacture); the resources and costs associated with the running of a product (e.g. for automobiles, not just petrol, but also maintenance, roads, pollution, and all other "externalities"); and, the outputs in terms of waste disposal, recycling, etc.

In order to essentially "de-materialise" society, that is move away from material-intensive production and consumption, new political and economic strategies are required, as well as changes in consumer habits. It would be necessary to move away from considering products in terms of materials, and more in terms of the service they provide: a car becomes the service "personal transportation" which can be assured through other means of physical transport, but also through video-conferencing which is far less material-intensive.

A shift towards a more information-intensive economy and the innovative use of new communications services and telematic applications may enable the emergence and growth of industries which will create new employment and which at the same time offer substitutes for travel and transport of goods, a major shift towards less material-intensive production and consumption, trade and value generation. Such changes may significantly reduce the environmental impact of industrial and commercial activities and thus make a considerable contribution to sustainable development.

THEME 9: the future of multiMedia

The new technologies will offer many possibilities to the consumer as they are introduced into today's electronic media, both in terms of entertainment and information. They will over time transform the structure of the media by breaking down barriers between types of media that were distinct. For instance, in the long term, even the written press will increasingly be disseminated on-line; digital radio systems will permit low quality television to be broadcast to automobiles plus certain telecommunications services. Internet bulletin boards are an entirely new medium for comment on the issues of the day.

Development of the information society will depend on the ability of distributors to develop new service products based on appropriate content from the production side. An important issue in Europe is how to take advantage of Europe's human and information resources to build up an information production industry as valuable for the economy and employment as traditional print publishing has been in the past. It is to be recalled that the media and content sector is a growing and significant sector, not only comprising global players but also many thousands of SME's.

The consumer benefits of digital media services are already widely discussed and can be segmented as follows:

"Access and choice": digital compression of television permits more programmes to be broadcast, offering a wider choice to the consumer plus easier access since programmes can be repeated several times, freeing the consumer from the TV schedule and the VCR. In other words, broadcasters' "shop window" becomes a lot bigger.

"Enhanced realism": the same techniques can be used to increase the impact of the programme through wide-screen TV and multi-track audio- "Home Cinema" - and high definition television, the "Big screen" experience at home.

"Maximum involvement and stimulation": the adrenalin rush that young people get from interactive entertainment, like video games, which will become increasingly pervasive as networks offer interactivity through video-on-demand systems - large computer servers accessed by telephone lines or cable TV - and which are capable of offering a wide range of entertainment, information and transactional services like Home Shopping. Ultimately virtual reality systems will offer consumers totally immersive electronic environments for all these activities.

Right now the first two are more the domain of broadcasters and consumer electronics interests while the third is offered by video games companies, telecommunications and computer companies - each with its own ideas on what the public wants. Of course it is already possible to offer more than one of these consumer benefits in the same service or product.

Considerable investments will have to be made in network infrastructure, new products and new content if the full range of possibilities is to be offered to the public. Industry structures must inevitably evolve. Within broadcasting, the trend away from public broadcasting funded by the licence fee will accelerate as new pay-TV services like Pay-per-view enable consumers to choose only what they want. The audience share of generalist channels will erode as broadcasters use their larger "shop window" to offer "bouquets" of special interest programmes. The traditional concept of a television "channel" may disappear as new technologies permit broadcasters to reconfigure their transmission capacity over a day or a week, from offering hundreds of programmes - with mimimal picture quality - to offering fewer channels of HDTV during primetime, or some combination of these with other possibilities.

Broadcasters and cable companies will lose their monopoly over delivering video to the home, as new entrants offering interactive or on-demand services deploy the new technologies over the telecommunications networks. The new technologies will blur many of the distinctions between entertainment, news/information and transactional services because they can be used for all these activities at the same time: click on a soap opera characters' shirt and you can order it there and then; click twice and access a bulletin board with an update on the actor's personal life. This will pose many challenges to regulatory structures that have evolved separately and from assumptions that may no longer be valid. In broadcasting, the scarcity of TV channels originally dictated that they be exploited in the public interest. Scarcity will ultimately be replaced by abundance and there will be competing delivery mechanisms, raising questions concerning the continuing rationale for such regulation.