Examination of Witnesses (Questions 2220
- 2221)
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2008
Mr Richard Hooper CBE
Q2220 Baroness Eccles of Moulton:
Focussing back on the news and the influence of the internet overtaking
all the other forms of access to news for the citizen, Google,
for instance, which now puts out the most tremendous amount of
news, all of it comes from other sources and every single news
item that Google puts out refers the viewer back to one
of the traditional sources. In a way there is a huge interdependence
so far as the news is concerned between the internet and traditional
sources.
Mr Hooper: Yes, I think the great challenge
of all traditional media companies is how you manage the transition.
The print media do not die—they might in 50 years' time—but
they are losing some share of key advertising and so it is up
to the print media to work out how to get their presence on the
net and get them working together. The irony of Google
to me, as an old television broadcaster type of person, is that
this is 1955 all over again; you are looking at something in the
net and up whacks an advert that you did not ask for which you
look at as part of the action of getting the information. That
was commercial television in the 1950s and commercial radio in
America in the 1920s so it is actually not that new in one sense.
Now it is more targeted and it is cleverer but there is still
an element of "I want that information and in order to get
it free I have to watch this ad".
Q2221 Lord Maxton:
Exactly on that point whether we should be looking at regulating
the ISPs now tracking people's usage of the internet, which is
what some of them are now proposing to do, so they can sell their
advertising according to your usage. Do you think that is something
we should be looking at and regulating? I am asking that because
you are an expert witness.
Mr Hooper: I think privacy issues within the
internet are probably one of the dominant public policy concerns
of the age. We are dealing with a technology that can hunt me
down in my office at home and know where I have travelled and
I think that has serious privacy issues. I am not an expert on
it but I suggest that might be an excellent theme for another
Communications inquiry.
Chairman: I think we will try to finish
this one first! Mr Hooper, thank you very, very much for coming.
You have put your evidence extremely clearly and it has been extremely
valuable. We appreciate it very much indeed.
| 
