For example, in 2006 Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive officer of Computer Associates, was convicted for his role in $2.2bn accounting scandal in which he was accused of falsely reporting software licence revenues and lying to investors.
The 132-page report, A Democratic Licence To Operate, which Nick Clegg commissioned last year in the wake of revelations by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden, acknowledges the importance of privacy concerns.
Sir John's warning comes as the economist Gavyn Davies prepares to publish his report into the licence fee and the possible ways of funding the corporation in the future.
Change in this respect was recommended both in A Question of Trust (Recommendation 22), and in this week's RUSI report, A Democratic Licence to Operate.
Celtic Music Radio, a station based in Glasgow that was recently awarded an FM licence, reports that 30% of its online audience is from outside Britain.And the internet has levelled the playing field.
The letter - signed by Reporters Without Borders (RSB), Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) - also highlights the case of Nazeeha Saeed, a Bahraini journalist who was prosecuted for "illegal reporting" after her licence renewal was refused.
Following reports that the licence fee could be top-sliced to fund commercial rivals in areas such as children's TV, Labour MP Barry Gardiner asked: "We were under the impression last July that the secretary of state had come to an agreement with the BBC [that there would be] no top-slicing".
They had fewer transport barriers as well; only one-third reported no driving licence or access to a vehicle, compared with two-thirds of the NDLP sample members.
Older people without driving licences report wanting to make more trips than they are able to, which indicates that there are inequalities in older people's mobility due to car availability [35].
The licence to report carries responsibilities.
