我國線上影音內容管制的再塑造：從OTT的發展談起

Abstract

線上影音內容已有逐漸取代付費電視的趨勢，近來Over the Top（OTT）內容大多不受管制或僅為低度管制，但OTT卻與受管制的廣電或電信產業之電視服務相互競爭，引發管制不公爭論。由於OTT大幅改變消費行為，傳統以執照作為內容管制模式已無法解決上述問題，必須重新思考典範轉移的可能。歐盟透過架構指令確立傳輸與內容二元管制，新的視聽媒體服務指令也將廣電與非廣電內容納入相同管制框架中，導入產業自律與官民共治理念，並將管制轉化為治理概念。我國影音內容管制常與平臺管制同時置於執照當中，常造成管制錯置之謬誤。本文認為OTT影音服務如欲以傳統執照搭配內容管制，其正當性相當薄弱，應先突破平臺與內容綑綁管制模式，再針對內容考量更適切的治理方式。

Viewers prefer watching the audiovisual content via the Internet rather than via traditional pay TV services. The content service from the emerging over-the-top (OTT) online services is under a light touch regulation and no ex ante regulation is imposed; however, the OTT and other TV services offered by regulated broadcasting or telecommunication operators have become rivals at the same level that may lead to a controversy of unfairness or regulatory loophole. Since the development of emerging services dramatically alters the way of consuming and the legacy regulation cannot provide proper solutions to the up-to-date questions, we should seek the possibility of a paradigm shift deriving from new regulatory concepts. The European Union’s Framework Directive has established the dual regulation by separating transmission and content. In addition, the new Audiovisual Media Service Directive is enacted to incorporate linear and non-linear content into the same regulatory framework and introduce the private ordering (co- and self-regulation) in order to transform the mindset from government to governance. The content regulation of communications industry in Taiwan is usually under the identical licensing system of platform (network/ operation) regulation and it often causes the fallacy of regulatory mismatch. This paper argues that the legitimacy of content regulation bundled with legacy broadcast licensing system is weak, especially in the context of vigorous development of OTT audiovisual services today. Therefore, the regulator should adopt an unbundling regulation of separating platform from content, and consider a more appropriate model of governance for content.