IPTV or TV over IP... a question for the lawyers?

Apple's recent announcement that it has signed deals with ABC-Disney to distribute programs via iTunes, and the announcement of the video iPod makes me think that the whole regulation and licensing edifice is on the point of irrelevance in its current form.
I have posted several times about licensing in general and I am coming to the conclusion that we are already at the point where plugging the dyke in one place, just leads the water to flow in another direction.
There is currently some debate as to whether having broadband internet access in the UK would require someone to have a TV licence (assuming they didn't have a TV, just a PC). So what do the regulators do when content gets delivered over IPTV? Give out licences at 100s of thousands or millions to deliver it? What if an operator says they're not IPTV, they are just selling a program over the internet. Will the regulator require a license to sell content (DVD producers?). The whole thing quickly becomes unworkable.

The UK TV licence is just a tax, pure and simple. It is a secondary means of funding the arts through a top heavy, outdated organisation that includes the delivery of the content within it's remit.
Let's assume that delivery is 'free', paid for by individual access subscriptions or municipal access. If that is the case, then the BBC is just a collection of content producers funded by the taxpayer.

Shouldn't this be a far looser arrangement than it is currently? If the access part was separated off as a kind of municipal network it would be free to diversify into other areas than television, with the mission of providing ubiquitous basic access, particularly in disadvantaged areas, to government and community services and content.
The creation of the content can then be funded in the same way that arts grants and lottery revenue is distributed; to smaller producers without the need for the 'old boy network' (look at how many programs are produced by ex-BBC staff companies).

In today's global economy, giving a fixed amount of credit to your citizens on the 'iBBC' would be the best way to distribute publicly funded content, which could then be purchased by anyone interested. It would also do wonders for the accuracy of viewing statistics!