Encourage e-friendliness...

UK publishers are huge investors in digital content - essentially online services and products which offer information, news, opinion, entertainment or analysis.

These services are also very often key trading hubs, for local, academic or business-to-business communities, as well as broader communities such as music or the arts, lifestyle and lifestage, interests and pursuits.

UK publishers prefer governmental moves to encourage a self-regulatory approach to online trading, supported by existing laws governing commercial activity.

The UK must play a leading role ensuring an e-friendly approach is adopted at European and international levels.

The Government should:

	Construct policies which make the UK a destination of choice for the development and trading of online services
	Combat policies, especially at the European level, which might impinge on content and advertising legal in the UK
	Encourage consumer confidence in e-commerce transactions by fostering high trading standards through self-regulatory redress mechanisms

The Government should not:

	Allow UK companies to be exposed to laws in other countries when pursuing trading practices legal in this country
	Allow privacy arguments unduly to restrict legitimate commercial activity