OECD forum stands by 'light touch' on Internet regulation

Key players in the Internet world stressed that the "light touch" approach to regulation, along with a free flow of information remained vital to life on the web, the OECD said on Wednesday after a two-day meeting. But governments "should improve their efforts to protect personal data, the freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights online," the meeting of OECD governments, businesses bodies and technical experts agreed. Saying the participants had created "a new framework," an OECD statement said the new principles "underline the benefits that today's light-touch, flexible regulation have brought in driving innovation and economic growth." They had also stressed the need "to maintain the open, decentralised design of the Internet" which had been "key to the Internet's rapid growth and impact." The statement noted: "The Internet has achieved global interconnection without the development of any international regulatory regime. The development of such a formal regulatory regime could risk undermining its growth." The free flow of information should be promoted and protected, it said. Countries had to develop access to high-speed broadband access to reap the full benefits of the Internet, notably in fields such as education, health, energy distribution and transportation, the statement said.