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BBC White Paper

The Secretary of State will be aware that there have been numerous complaints from news providers, software publishers, online services, record companies and mobile phone operators about the impact of the BBC’s ambitions in that respect. While the BBC is clearly right to make available its programmes in whatever format the consumer chooses, does the Secretary of State accept that its intervention could risk having the same kind of impact as that of an elephant jumping into a swimming pool? Will she therefore consider making Ofcom’s role more than simply an advisory one? Will she also ensure that the final decision about launching new services does not rest with the BBC alone, even in the guise of the new BBC Trust rather than that of the old BBC governors?