The African National Congress (ANC) conference has given government until June 2019 to complete the migration from analogue to digital broadcast technology. The initial deadline, as determined by the International Telecommunication Union, which was June 2015 was missed, largely as the result of a legal dispute between government and broadcasters and government over whether the […]
Visual technology and 3D specialist RealD has filed complaints in Germany’s District Court (Landgericht) in Düsseldorf, alleging that Volfoni SAS, Volfoni GmbH and CinemaNext Deutschland have infringed three of RealD’s European patents by the importation, sale, or offer for sale of the Volfoni SmartCrystal Diamond cinema systems in Germany. In the complaint, RealD requests an […]
The UK government has confirmed that universal high speed broadband will be delivered by a regulatory Universal Service Obligation (USO), giving everyone in the UK access to speeds of at least 10 Mbps by 2020. This is the speed that Ofcom, the independent regulator, says is needed to meet the requirements of an average family. […]
The European Union’s Court of Justice has examined earlier verdicts and judgements which favoured the Kingdom of Spain in respect of the financing the deployment of DTT in the country with €300 million. The Luxembourg Court overruled the European Commission’s decision to force the Spanish Administration to recover the €300 million given to the companies […]
The HbbTV Association, a global initiative dedicated to providing an open standard for the delivery of broadcast and broadband services through connected TVs and set-top boxes, has finalised and published its operator applications specification. Building on HbbTV 2, the specification allows TV operators, in partnership with TV manufacturers, to provide an operator-branded experience as an […]
Facebook has released its Transparency Report, previously called the Government Requests Report, for the first half of 2017. For the first time, it is expanding the report beyond government requests to provide data regarding reports from rights holders related to intellectual property (IP) — covering copyright, trademark, and counterfeit. The report also includes the same […]
The July 2016 demonstrations across Turkey, and which resulted in mass arrests of demonstrators, has now seen Turksat start legal proceedings against the opposition Gulenist party, and its leader Fetullah Gülen. 162 suspects, many already in custody, are named in the action. Turksat is claiming $1.8 million in damages. Turksat’s headquarters in Ankara were hit […]
India has slapped a 20 per cent import tariff on set-top boxes, up from 10 per cent, as part of its scheme to encourage more local production. Most locals see the move as a means of curbing the supply of equipment from China. Typically, the country imports about 10 million STBs a month, while the […]
As anticipated, the US Federal Communications Commission has voted three-to-two along party lines to restore what it says is the longstanding, bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework that has fostered rapid Internet growth, openness, and freedom for nearly 20 years. Following detailed legal and economic analysis, as well as extensive examination of comments from consumers and stakeholders, […]
The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) has announced the general availability of its first set of VR Industry Guidelines, which includes topics relevant for VR content production, distribution, security and consumption. At CES 2018, VRIF will present the new guidelines in its 2-hour masterclass, outline its 2018 roadmap, and showcase VR demonstrations from Fraunhofer and […]