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Israel: Government Considering Regulation of Internet Broadcasts

Posted on: Thursday, 10 November 2005, 12:00 CST

Text of report by Israeli settlers' Arutz 7 radio website on 10 November

A government body responsible for regulating satellite and cable broadcasts is considering extending the scope of its authority to internet broadcasts aimed at the Israeli public.

The Council for Satellite and Cable Broadcasting is currently charged by Israeli law with regulating the content of satellite and cable broadcasts.

Broadcasting via cable or satellite to the Israeli public requires a licence. The council has the power to grant licences to selected content and service providers who meet its requirements, and revoke the licences of broadcasters who do not.

If the council's authority is broadened to include internet radio broadcasts, broadcasters such as Israel National News (Arutz-7) might be subject to government regulation and oversight, something that could severely compromise its independence, objectivity, and ability to report and comment on current events the way it sees fit. Arutz-7 radio, broadcasting from off-shore, was shut down by the government two years ago.

The reason for concern is that government agencies have been selective in their regulation of terrestrial radio. Arutz-7 National Radio's offshore station, serving the public dubbed as "the national camp radio," was shut down in 2003 despite its rank as the third- largest commercial radio station in the country. However, the same agencies allowed the left-wing "Voice of Peace" station to broadcast freely from offshore until the station's manager ended the broadcast due to financial and medical problems.

Yoram Mokdi, chairman of Israel's Council for Satellite and Cable Broadcasting, said that while the council is only beginning to study the issue, Israel's big cable and satellite content providers, such as Hot and Yes, are already making plans to broadcast to subscribers via the internet.

While satellite and cable companies must receive a licence to start internet broadcasting, companies who limit their broadcasting only to the internet can still reach out to the public without government interference.

But once such broadcasts "reach half the country via the internet," Mokdi said, many people, particularly Israel's media conglomerates, will demand that the government start subjecting them to regulation as well, or in the alternative, exempt satellite and cable broadcasting from government regulation.

Mokdi said, however, that in his opinion, "regulation is not always a good thing," and that the council does not intend to create "a dictatorship for internet sites,"

Arutz-7 broadcasts over the internet daily and weekly TV programming in English and Hebrew at its site: IsraelNationalTV.com.

Asked what would happen if Arutz-7 started streaming 24-hour television news content over the internet the way CNN or Fox News do in the United States over cable, Mokdi said he could not be certain that Arutz-7 would be exempt from Israeli government regulation and supervision.

Under current regulations, the state would have to grant Arutz-7 a special licence for broadcasting news, if it were on cable or satellite.

In today's political reality, with Arutz-7 more often than not at odds with government policy, especially on the sensitive issue of holding all the land of Israel under Jewish sovereignty, getting a licence to broadcast news and commentary from the government would be highly unlikely.

Baruch Gordon, director of Arutz-7's English website IsraelNationalNews.com, said it was no coincidence that the government shut down Arutz-7's over-the-air broadcasts shortly before announcing the Disengagement Plan to the public.

He said the best way to safeguard the right to freedom of speech from government intervention would be to allow unregulated internet news broadcasting regardless of how many Israelis decide to tune in, "even if it's half the country".

Gordon explained that Arutz-7 broadcasts only over the internet because the Israeli government would not issue a tender for a national radio station that would be allowed to broadcast news and commentary freely without government intervention.

Most over-the-air radio and television broadcasting in Israel is controlled by the state. Israel allowed private firms to operate regional radio stations, however with many limitations. Initially, the regional stations were forbidden to broadcast their own news on matters of national public debate. They had to default to the state- run news stations. The regional newscasts were limited to coverage of local issues pertaining to the region they operate in.

In contrast, virtually all television and radio stations in the United States are privately owned, and the government does not regulate the content of broadcast news or opinion. Traditional over- the-air broadcast media in the United States do, however, require a license from the Federal Communications Commission.

The US initiated licensing of over-the-air broadcasts in order to ensure fair public access to limited radio frequencies. Cable and satellite broadcasts, on the other hand, are subject to very little government regulation and interference. Controversial radio talk host Howard Stern recently moved to satellite radio in order to avoid certain regulatory limitations on speech.

Internet broadcasting in the United States is virtually free of government regulation, except for certain pornography issues, and legal concerns involving the use of copyrighted material.

Mokdi said the council will be examining the American model as well as the one being developed in Europe which tends to view more favourably government regulation and supervision of internet broadcasting.

The council will be holding public hearings on the issue until 7 March 2006. After that, it will formulate its policy along with the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Communications.

"We might reach the conclusion that it is impossible to regulate the internet," he said.

Source: BBC Monitoring Media

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