by Sunny Hundal

Liberal Conspiracy has learnt from key sources that the three major parties have reached an agreement on web regulation, which will be presented to Parliament on Monday.

The government has conceded that earlier plans for web regulation went too far.

The new amendments will significantly raise the bar to ensure that bloggers are not covered by new press regulator by default.

Two key changes will be offered:

1) Internet-based media organisations with a turnover of less than £2m or employing less than ten employees will be automatically exempt from the regulator. This is lower than £6.5m definition some were calling for, but still exempts all bloggers.

2) They have also accepted our recommendation that bloggers or other small media entities who choose to join, even if outside the definition, will get cost-protection as a result. In other words, the regulator’s arbitration service will be available to small entities, who want to avoid being hit by libel costs even before being sued, if they sign up.

This opt-in rather than opt-out model was the preferred solution for most independent bloggers.

The government will tie the cut-off point to the legally defined ‘micro-business’ term, to avoid confusion or provide easy loopholes.

Editor Sunny Hundal adds: “This is a good compromise for independent bloggers because it excludes the vast majority, even if some choose to make a living from online writing. It isn’t a perfect solution but there was never going to be one. Setting such a high bar will also ensure most bloggers will not have to worry the regulator, if they choose not to join, until they have sufficient resources.”

UPDATE: The DCMS have published their proposals, backing up our story.