With the rapid growth of access to high-speed Internet in the domestic sphere, the development of on-line multimedia services - both communication services and content - has become an issue. A high level of uncertainty weighs on their take-off. For economic, legal and technological reasons, today's Internet is ill-suited to an e-commerce economy. The authors argue that the development of such an economy will require highspeed networks based on other forms of industrial organization. Two models are explored: one spawned by the computer technology world dominated by Microsoft, and the other - a mixed, mass electronics-Telecom market - based on a partnership between the key players in these two sectors. The strengths and weaknesses of these two models are analysed and the implications in terms of regulations are highlighted.