Ofcom to rule on News Corp's 'fitness' to own BSkyB

[muriel_volestrangler]

From the BBC's Business Editor:

I have learned that Ofcom is deeply concerned by recent revelations about the years of mismanagement at the News of the World and is monitoring developments at News Corporation extremely closely.

It is expected to make a statement later today.

I understand that Ofcom regards evidence that the News of the World's newsroom was out of control for many years as relevant to a judgement on whether News Corporation would be a fit-and-proper owner of British Sky Broadcasting.

Ofcom has a statutory and continuous duty to ensure that any holder of a broadcasting licence is fit and proper. It can launch an investigation into this question at any time of its choosing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14082668

At last.

BSkyB bid: What does Ofcom's 'fit and proper' test mean? The panel's verdict

As scandal calls News Corp's Sky bid into question, our panellists scrutinise the broadcast regulation guidelines
...
Ofcom may not grant a licence to anyone unless they are satisfied that they are "fit and proper". Unfortunately, the Broadcasting Act 1990 (which is where this requirement comes from) does not explain what is meant by "fit and proper", and there is no guidance on the term. Ultimately, therefore, Ofcom has the discretion to decide who may get a licence. This has the potential to open a Pandora's box.

Whether Ofcom considers Rupert Murdoch to be "fit and proper" is an interesting question – previously they have not raised concerns about Richard Desmond, for example. The events of the last few days and the outcry that has followed may just be enough to tip the scales against Murdoch and News Corp but then again, any refusal of a licence may be deemed to be political interference, and News Corp may get the go-ahead because Ofcom fears the potential backlash if it refuses.
...
In my experience as a media lawyer, Ofcom's take on whether a person is "fit and proper" depends mostly on whether Ofcom thinks that that person is willing and capable of complying with UK broadcasting regulation. People who have been directors of channels that have been taken off-air by Ofcom (for example for showing unacceptably hard porn) or banned by the secretary of state (for the same reason) have had difficulty in obtaining subsequent broadcast licences.

In Ofcom's eyes they have blotted their copybooks not through any criminous element to their character but because they are tainted by regulatory mismanagement. Another Ofcom application form – this time for the licence to broadcast on satellite or cable – inquires after the regulatory "previous" of the applicants.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jul/07/bskyb-bid-ofcom-fit-and-proper

(Richard Desmond is a pornographer who also publishes the Daily and Sunday Express, the Daily Star, and now owns Channel 5, a British (nationwide) broadcaster. So we should note that 'fit and proper' does not mean 'morally upstanding')