Icstis, the UK's premium-rate phone regulator, has issued a record £250,000 (E360,050) fine over fraudulent phone-in competitions on ITV show GMTV that 18 million callers entered but had no chance of winning. Icstis imposed the maximum penalty on phone company Opera Telecom, after it found the revenue generated by callers who could not have won […]

Some cable subscribers are suing to get their programming a la carte. A multimillion-dollar class-action suit has been filed against the major cable programmers and operators for violating antitrust laws by bundling programming in expanded basic tiers. In a suit filed by veteran antitrust attorney Maxwell Blecher on behalf of 14 cable and satellite subscribers […]

Ofcom's Market Impact Assessment (MIA) has ruled that the BBC's plans to introduce a new mixed genre digital TV channel in high definition format, available free-to-view without advertising, is unlikely to have significant negative market impacts. Audiences would have the opportunity to access the BBC's proposed HD channel on all digital television platforms – digital […]

Canada’s broadcasting regulator should give more flexibility to cable operators and television stations on advertising, Canadian content and channel packages, according to a report commissioned by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The study will feed into the federal regulator’s public consultations next year on speciality and pay channels and cable and satellites services. Lawyers […]

A total of 65 producers of adult movies, their lawyers and other employees have organised a conference, where possible measures to be taken against piracy will be discussed. Data shows that only about 20 per cent of porn production is being legally spread, which causes serious losses for the whole industry.

Music artist Prince is threatening to sue a host of major websites, including YouTube, eBay and Pirate Bay, as part of a legal initiative to “reclaim the Internet” from piracy. Lawsuits relating to Prince’s material will be launched in the US and UK as part of a campaign led by anti-piracy firm Web Sheriff, which […]

Du Baichuan, former CTO of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has confirmed that “China will have two mobile TV standards by the end of this year: CMMB and TDBM”. CMMB (China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting) is based on a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network, originally developed by China’s Academy of Broadcast Science and […]

US communications regulators have approved new rules designed to ensure that cable television subscribers who own analogue TV sets will still have access to local broadcast TV channels following the digital switchover in 2009. The FCC voted to endorse rules that require cable operators to continue carrying local broadcast channels that can be viewed on […]

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has backed US telcos, warning regulators against imposing 'net neutrality' rules that would block carriers from charging content providers premium prices to prioritise some web traffic. While the ultimate decision on new regulations rests with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the DoJ's comments represent a blow to content companies […]

Dutch file-sharing service TorrentSpy has blocked US users from its search engines after a US court made an order requiring the firm to log users’ IP addresses and activity. TorrentSpy said it would rather block users than breach its privacy policy by passing on details.