EU directive needs revising, says minister

Minister of creative industries, Shaun Woodward, has said that compromise is necessary to the 1989 European Union TV Without Frontiers directive, which currently states all audio-visual content should be regulated the same way as normal TV.

Under the current rules, this would include all online and on-demand services such as YouTube and MySpace.

The minister for creative industries and tourism told Broadcast: "If it's a television programme I think we should accept it should be open to regulation, however it's transmitted. It does not follow that if something has moving images of an audio-visual nature, but is clearly not a television programme, that it should be regulated too." He also fears such regulation would force out video-sharing sites, because compliance would be too costly.

Woodward was speaking at the Mipcom conference in Cannes, where he is launching the first government-funded Pact UK indies pavilion.

He said of the initiative: “Without the passion and creativity of our independent producers, viewers around the world would be deprived of classic British hits such as My Family and Midsomer Murders.

"It’s great to see that so many of our producers will be manning the first UK Pavilion at Mipcom this year so we can show the rest for the world what we’ve got to offer.”