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I&B
secretary Asha Swarup stressed on the media to act fast, and buttressed
her statement by saying, "There is no need for you to question
the government's intentions, but if industry does not come out
with its content code the courts will do it for you."
This
was obviously in reference to the suggestion made by the Delhi
High Court recently while hearing a case on a fake sting operation
that the I&B ministry could form a committee to vet and clear
every sting operation before it goes on air.
The
government has no intention whatsoever for curbing the freedom
of the press,, she reiterated, but adding that some regulation
has to be in place and it could easily come from the NBA.
"We
have taken them very seriously and hope they will stick to the
deadline, and are looking forward to the draft," she said
while addressing a panel discussion on regulatory issues at the
Assocham Global Media and Entertainment Summit, Focus 2007.
Interestingly,
Swarup was reacting to a comment from Pavan Duggal, chairman,
Assocham cyberlaw committee, that regulation for the media in
the digital era is already there in the Information Technology
Act.
She
said the this was brought to her notice for the first time and
the ministry would see if amending that law would be enough to
set up the regulatory system for the broadcast media.
Duggal
had pointed out in his presentation that already there are provisions
(Sections 4 and 79) under the IT Act, 2004, which should govern
the media in the digital environment.
The
ministry remains open to all suggestions regarding the broadcasting
regulation she said, arguing that people have misunderstood the
draft that the ministry had floated for public debate.
"I
wonder whether the people who have been protesting so vehemently
have carefully read the draft, because in it we have said three
things, 'that the regulator will be a body outside the government,
that the need is to have a uniform standard, and the third point
relates to the constitution of the regulator'.
"We
are prepared to consider any document which leads to the media
governing itself, and if you want to change the manner of constituting
the regulator to make it independent, we are ready for any discussion
even on that," she said.
It
may be recalled that during the Digital Summit organised by indiantelevision.com
earlier this year, also attended by Ofcom chairman Lord Curry,
Swarup had said after discussions with him that the ministry was
considering how to take lessons from Ofcom to set up an independent
regulator.
She
reiterated that she had no hesitation with the media bringing
in its own code, reminding the audience that the Advertising Services
Council of India is an independent body and had brought in their
own code "which the government adopted", saying the
same could be possible with the NBA code.
She
accepted the suggestion of Ashok Mansukhani, president, Hinduja
Ventures Ltd, that in the current situation, legislation should
be facilitative and light and added that taking into consideration
the converged environment, the government could look at a converged
bill as well for the media to include all platforms under one
regulator.
She
said that she has talked individually to many top broadcasters
and they have said they will draft their own code, but nothing
has happened.
"Now
they have said they will do that by January 31, and we hope they
will do so," Swarup said.
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