The Communications White Paper

On December 12, 2000, the Government issued its Communications White Paper (the "White Paper"), which set out the Government’s ‘vision and objectives’ for the communications industry in the 21^st Century. It seeks to foster a competitive, innovative communications environment in the UK which will make it a global media market leader. To achieve this, a new regulatory regime will be established, which aims to:

• protect consumer interests in terms of choice, price and quality;
• maintain standards of diversity, plurality, quality and choice;
• safeguard consumer interests by maintaining community standards in content and encourage competition;
• balance freedom of speech against the need to protect against offensive or harmful material, whilst protecting fairness and privacy.