December 11, 12:01 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 One of two websites recently requested by the Media Development Authority (MDA) to register has bowed out of the online scene.
While The Independent Singapore has complied by submitting its forms to MDA to register under the class licensing rules, Breakfast Network has shut down.
However, one of the biggest bugbears is not the registration itself, but rather, the inconsistent way different regulations have been applied to various sites.
This is made worse by the way administrative processes to regulate these sites have been obscure and arbitrary at best.
Lawyer Siew Kum Hong addressed this issue in his Facebook post saying that "if MDA truly wanted to transparently regulate sites like The Independent and BN that do not hit the threshold for individual licensing, then MDA should create a new class licence for these sites, so that the licence requirements are clear for all to see."
1. Yahoo! News Singapore - Complied with the new licensing scheme
Rules: In May this year, MDA announced on its website that online news sites that report regularly on issues relating to Singapore and have significant reach among readers will require an individual licence. These updates hastily came into effect amid vehement objections, particularly from online media practitioners and users.
The new licensing scheme was perceived by netizens to have been pushed through without much public consultation. MCI Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said that the scheme was "not a major change" but "a tweaking of the class licensing scheme".
Why Yahoo!: The rationale for Yahoo! News to obtain an individual license was a bid to regulate major online news sites so that they follow the same regulatory framework as traditional media.
Yahoo! News was the only site in a basket of 10 that did not belong to MediaCorp or Singapore Press Holdings.
The sites also had to put up a performance bond of S$50,000, like all other individually-licensed broadcasters and comply within 24 hours with any order by the media watchdog to take down objectionable content.
Yahoo! News' Singapore country manager Alan Soon said that Yahoo! News will comply with the licensing changes but hope that it will "pave the way for full accreditation and access" for their reporters. Accreditation will mean Yahoo! News will receive official press statements and be invited to government press conferences.
2. The Independent Singapore - Complied by registering under Broadcasting (Class License) Notication
Rules: Two months later, in late July, MDA notified The Independent Singapore to register under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification.
This is different from the license obtained by Yahoo! News.
Why Independent Singapore? The rationale for registration is to ensure that they will not receive foreign funding.
The site was not even officially launched yet but its aim to provide analysis on current affairs, economics and politics in Singapore caught the eye of regulators.
Initially, MDA asked The Independent to register within 14 days after a July 29 meeting.
On Aug. 6, when they were about to submit their forms, they were told to fill up new forms that were different in scope from the earlier forms.
The new forms were received by The Independent on Nov. 14, which they returned to MDA only in December.
3. Breakfast Network - Decided to shut down
Rules: On Nov. 26, MDA notified Breakfast Network to register with it. The deadline for registration was Dec. 10.
Why Breakfast Network? This time, MDA did not even send out a press release explaining its rationale for Breakfast Network to register.
The website has been closed down, but it continues to be active on Facebook and Ms Henson has returned to blogging on her personal page.
Breakfast Network also mentioned that MDA gave them a week's extension for the form-filling when they requested for a month.
4. The Online Citizen - Gazetted as a political association
Rules: In what is perhaps the biggest anomaly of all, The Online Citizen -- which consists of a group of bloggers -- was gazetted as a political association in February 2011.
This was after the Attorney-General's Chambers had advised that The Online Citizen was an organisation whose activities related to politics in Singapore.
Why TOC? Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong then declared them to be a political association under the Political Donations Act.
The gazetting was necessary to ensure that TOC is not funded by foreign elements as well.
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