Regulations enable Ofcom to designate functions to a co-regulatory body or bodies in order to secure compliance by providers of VOD services with the new legislative requirements. Accordingly, as we made clear in the Consultation, ATVOD and the ASA put forward to Ofcom proposals for designation as the new co-regulatory bodies with regard to VOD editorial content and VOD advertising respectively. In our Consultation, we evaluated and consulted on the suitability of the proposals we received with a view to determining whether it would be appropriate for Ofcom to designate co-regulatory functions to ATVOD and the ASA.
1.11 As we made clear in the Consultation, we evaluated both the proposal we received from ATVOD ("the ATVOD Proposal") in relation to the regulation of VOD editorial content, and the proposal we received from the ASA ("the ASA Proposal"), in relation to the regulation of VOD advertising, against two sets of criteria: firstly, those criteria laid out in the Regulations which will come into force on 19 December 2009; and second, those criteria laid out in Ofcom's own principles relating to co-regulation.
1.12 As will be discussed in the rest of this Statement, it is the overwhelming view of stakeholders that regulation of VOD services should be achieved through a system of co-regulation and that it would be appropriate for Ofcom to designate ATVOD and the ASA as the appropriate regulatory authorities in relation to securing compliance by providers with the requirements relating to VOD editorial content and VOD advertising.