News Focus: Internet - Ofcom calls for greater online self-regulation.

Ofcom has turned the spotlight on the need for industry self-regulation to protect consumers using the internet.

The regulator has initiated a Europe-wide review in response to the increase in web use: 59 per cent of UK adults are online at home and, of these users, 68 per cent have broadband.

Ofcom said the internet required a 'much higher degree of regulation than has been the case for other media'.

But Chris Combemale, chief operating officer of Emailvision and chairman of the Direct Marketing Association's Email Marketing Council, argued self-regulation in the UK was already sufficiently robust.

The association plans to update its 2004 …