HOWZAT

It is stating the obvious to say that the publicly funded BBC needs to be careful. On the one hand, the BBC has just won a ten-year extension to the licence fee. It is an interesting time, then, to demonstrate that there is a way for the Beeb to make profits online.

Meanwhile, online retailers should be nervous. Power on the internet comes from traffic, and that is what the BBC has, with its 25 million users a month. The planned archive of the past seven day’s television and radio will only boost that.

In the next few days, both Virgin and HMV will enter the download market. But if they were not listed as an approved supplier on the BBC website, that would be damaging. Both, of course, are optimistic that they won’t be forgotten, but with the sheer number of competitors out there, will they enjoy a suitably prominent listing? It is not unreasonable for the BBC to act as a neutral guide, pointing out where music and the like might be purchased. If privately owned enterprise receives a lift, it may also be seen as a reasonable use of public money. But the BBC is treading a fine line here. There could be more costs than benefits.

Only two years ago, the Beeb got into trouble over plans to give away educational software. An internal inquiry found that licence-fee money was, at one point, used improperly. Despite that, most commercial providers were squeezed out as the Government had approved the service already.

With that history in mind, it would be ideal if the latest commercial wheeze was scrutinised carefully. Hopefully the BBC Governors will show that they are equal to the task.

Opromark has market talking

QUITE a few health warnings need to be erected over Opromark, the web-based exchange that enables retail investors to buy and sell shares in buy-to-let properties at the click of a mouse. For the price of a drink, you can now purchase a microscopic fraction of a Clapham villa or a Liverpool flat.

The reliance on middlemen, the potential for dispute with fellow shareholders and the lack of liquidity are all potential drawbacks. The fact that investors are taking the plunge without even viewing properties is unsettling. Moreover, the exchange is unregulated.

In one important way, Opromark deserves applause. Until now, investors had not been able to make small investments in residential property. The entry price is governed by the cost of the smallest property, and these days £100,000 buys little more than a broom cupboard.

Shares of listed housebuilders and estate agents have been used as proxies for the housing market. Nowadays one can take spread bets on house price indices. Just as more or less everything else has been securitised — from credit card receivables to David Bowie’s future royalty income — it’s about time that bricks and mortar were tackled.

But no one should underestimate the risks associated with the venture. Progress, of sorts, it may be to have a collective investment vehicle giving direct but diversified exposure to residential property. That does not mean now is the right time to increase exposure to an asset class of questionable value.

IT IS with great sadness that we report on the death yesterday of Paul Geroski, the chairman of the Competition Commission. Mr Geroski’s actions as the UK’s leading arbiter of monopolies and mergers may not have met with universal approval from those who dealt with him, but judges cannot expect to make everyone happy. His approach — and his determination to see consumers’ interests served while respecting the largely benign and beneficial forces of the market — will be remembered.

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