ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the background to Community level regulation with the advent of the Television without Frontiers Directive and its approach to the protection of minors. It explores the conceptual development spurred in reaction to the rise of the Internet and its distinct threats to minors is mapped and the concomitant widening of the policy tool kit at European level. The chapter highlights the establishment of an overarching approach to the protection of minors parallel to continued sectoral developments in the broadcasting field and the emergence of new initiatives with regard to the Internet. It considers the further development and consolidation of this policy framework, and the amendments proposed in the context of the Television without Frontiers Directive's expansion to cover audiovisual media services. The chapter concludes by re-examining the regulatory tools available with a view to assessing the future feasibility of a unified pan European content classification system.
