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Policy

Labour wants FAANG tax to fund BBC

UK’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has proposed a tax on firms such as Facebook, Google and Netflix, to subsidise the BBC licence fee. He declared a “few tech giants and unaccountable billionaires will control huge swathes of our public space and debate” and that intervention is now required. In a speech at the Edinburgh […]

August 23, 2018

MPAA’s Rivkin calls for platform accountability

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin has urged the dominant Internet platforms to take action to confront a growing list of online problems, including election meddling, hate speech, and piracy. Delivering a keynote address, A Declaration for Accountability in Cyberspace, at the Tech Policy Institute’s (TPI) Aspen Forum – his […]

August 22, 2018By Colin Mann

Premier League condemns beoutQ piracy

The Premier League, the top flight of the professional football game in England, has strongly condemned what it describes as “illegal broadcast piracy emanating from Saudi Arabia”. All 20 Premier League matches played during the first two weekends of the season were broadcast illegally on the beoutQ service, which it is alleged steals content from […]

August 22, 2018By Chris Forrester

Nigeria: Court order bans DStv rate hike

Nigeria’s Federal High Court has ruled Multichoice cannot increase subscription rates on its local DStv pay-TV service. The action was brought by Nigeria’s Consumer Protection Council (CPC), and which had asked for an interim injunction on the planned price rises pending a full court hearing. The CPC argued that it wanted an investigation into DStv […]

August 21, 2018By Chris Forrester

Research: UK £9bn superfast broadband boost

Local businesses in areas covered by the UK Government’s rollout of superfast broadband have seen a combined £9 billion (€10.05bn) increase in turnover since the boost to their broadband speed, new figures have revealed. The report, The Evaluation of the Economic Impact and Public Value of the Superfast Broadband Programme, is an independent assessment of […]

August 20, 2018By Colin Mann

SES urges US C-band owners to register

SES is urging its C-band clients in the US to ensure that their receiving dishes are properly licensed with the FCC. A White Paper, originally written back in April, is being re-publicised with the headline “urgent attention required” because any unregistered C-band antennas must be notified to the FCC by October 17th in order to […]

August 20, 2018By Chris Forrester

beIN Sports accuses Arabsat

The controversy over which satellite is illegally beaming out pirated signals deepened with a statement August 16th from Qatar-based beIN Sports. The broadcaster accuses beoutQ and Arabsat as facilitating blatant sports piracy “on an industrial scale”. beIN says that independent examinations by three of the world’s “leading digital security, media solutions and technology companies” have […]

August 17, 2018By Chris Forrester

Jail term for ISD seller

Warren Gleave, of Burnley in the northwest of England, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison having been found guilty of selling illicit streaming devices pre-loaded with premium content. Gleave was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court and was immediately taken into custody. Over a three year period, Gleave unlawfully made in excess of £200,000 […]

August 17, 2018By Colin Mann

Spain: Vodafone ‘Movistar abusing football rights’

Vodafone Spain has submitted a complaint to regulator CNMC against Movistar over alleged breaches of competition rules in its football pay-TV offers. Vodafone has asked the CNMC to step-in and order Movistar to eliminate its promotion of free-of-charge football until 2019 arguing that it is an abuse of a dominant position to the detriment of […]

August 16, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

UK: CMA probes celebrity social media endorsements

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into whether celebrities are making it clear when they are paid to endorse a product on social media. The CMA said social media influencers have the power to influence the shopping habits of millions with posts endorsing goods or services, but they may not be […]

August 16, 2018