Comcast has won another milestone verdict in its long-running patent dispute with TiVo. The US Patent & Trademark office has said that one of TiVo’s patents which outlined how viewers could watch a show while viewing programme listings data, simply should never have been issued. Comcast has filed many applications to the Patent Office to […]
Canal+ and the French film industry signed a new agreement in Dijon at the annual Rencontres cinématographiques, in the presence of the new French Minister of Culture Franck Riester. The agreement, which renews the way Canal+ will contribute to the financing of the French movie industry and feature film projects, will be applicable over a […]
According to the 2018 How Google Fights Piracy report, the company has invested $100 million in building Content ID, its rights management tool, leading to over 3 billion URLs being removed from Search for infringing copyright. Writing in Google’s Public Policy blog, Cedric Manara, Head of Copyright, notes that the Internet has enabled people worldwide […]
In agreement with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, German anti-trust body the Bundeskartellamt has requested the referral of the Vodafone/Liberty merger case in as far as markets in Germany are concerned. In the middle of October, the parties had notified the European Commission that the Vodafone Group would like to acquire […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a pile of detailed applications from operators looking to launch significant satellite ‘mega-constellations’. The FCC will vote on November 15th on applications from a number of would-be operators, and some which are seeking expansion approvals. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has already indicated that November is ‘Space Month’ as far […]
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of parts of 21st Century Fox by Disney. The decision is conditional on full compliance with commitments offered by Disney. The deal was cleared by US regulators at the end of June 2018. Disney and Fox are two of the six major […]
With one year to go to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), the GSMA – which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide – is calling on governments to support mobile industry spectrum needs. The GSMA warns that the successful rollout of ultra-fast 5G services relies on timely access to the right amount and type […]
CreativeFuture, a grass-roots coalition which unites those who value American creativity and innovation in the fight against content theft, has sent a letter to all candidates running for Federal office in the forthcoming midterm elections. Over 400 prominent members from the creative communities have signed the letter – joining over 100,000 others who signed the […]
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has directed the BBC to conduct a ‘public interest test’ (PIT) to assess properly the value and potential impact on other broadcasters of a number of changes to the BBC iPlayer the Corporation wishes to make, having provided its plans to Ofcom for consideration. In order to protect fair and effective […]
Companies laying high-speed fibre cables used by large businesses, mobile operators and broadband providers will have greater access to broadband infrastructure provider Openreach’s ducts and poles, under proposals set out by communications regulator Ofcom. The plans are published alongside a consultation on Ofcom’s Business Connectivity Market Review (BCMR), which looks at competition for dedicated, high-speed […]