New Zealand multi-play operator Spark has agreed an exclusive partnership with Netflix that gives Spark broadband customers a subscription to Netflix’s Standard plan for one year when they sign up to a 24-month Unlimited Data Spark broadband plan. This is the first time that Netflix has been bundled with broadband in New Zealand. Recognising that […]
Champions League football could soon be returning to UK terrestrial television, with Channel 4 emerging as an unlikely destination. According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the broadcaster is “exploring the prospect of buying one fixture per matchweek” from Europe’s top club competition when the new three year UK television contract goes up for […]
A new development on pirated films and music online comes as a step forward on the road to reducing mass copyright infringement. However, for the UK’s Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), as intellectual property (IP) plays an important role in supporting the UK’s economy, the Government must take a keener interest in enforcement measures to […]
UK pro-copyright consumer education body the Industry Trust for IP Awareness has revealed that its well-established campaign, Moments Worth Paying For, has reached over two billion consumers in six years with an estimated media value of £49.3 million (€46.9m). The Moments Worth Paying For campaign has been transformational in fusing consumer education with the content […]
BBC Worldwide has concluded a TV sales deal with the Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (JTBC), owned by JoongAng Media Network (JMnet), one of South Korea’s largest media conglomerates. The deal includes over 500 hours of BBC’s premium natural history, science and documentary content which will now be available on one of the country’s newest cable […]
A first-of-its kind initiative aimed at reducing the availability of infringing content accessed through online search has been agreed in the UK between representatives of rights holders (BPI, Motion Picture Association and Alliance for Intellectual Property representing a wide range of rights holders); and major search engines (Google and Bing). Following a Government-chaired series of […]
Three suppliers of pre-loaded IPTV boxes that facilitate mass piracy of Premier League football broadcasts have been ordered to pay a total of £267,000 (€311,230) by the Courts for infringing copyright. The three sellers of pre-loaded IPTV boxes ordered to pay costs are: Football for Pubs Limited (based in Liverpool) was ordered by the High […]
The US’s leading creative industries have called on the government to do more to ensure that its trading partners fulfil their pledges to the US to improve protection and enforcement of copyright, and named 16 countries that should be on special watch lists. In its submission in the annual ‘Special 301’ inquiry launched by the […]
The Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU), a new non-profit organisation devoted to increasing awareness of IP rights and their impact on peoples’ lives, has been launched with an ambitious programme of activities for 2017. According to the CIPU, misunderstanding about what IP rights achieve, and for whom, costs the US and other economies billions […]
Digital rights and civil liberties issues campaigning organisation Open Rights Group (ORG) has warned that changes to the penalties for online copyright infringement could leave UK citizens vulnerable to blackmail by unscrupulous companies that demand payment for alleged copyright infringements. Proposals in the Digital Economy Bill would mean