Britain is to follow France in making ISPs cut access to users who repeatedly download music or films illegally. The government had given the music and film industries a year to come to a voluntary agreement with ISPs over how to tackle illegal file sharing, but that period expired at the end of 2007. In […]
From David Del Valle in Barcelona The European Commission’s decision to bet on the DVB-H standard to for Europe has been fiercely criticised by the Qualcomm-sponsored FLO Forum at the MWC in Barcelona which has demanded a neutral position from European authorities in the emerging mobile TV business. “It is still very premature having a […]
China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has clarified details of its new regulations for Online Audio and Video Services which appeared to ban any private company activity from the sector. It now says some existing private online video firms will, under a 'grandfather clause,' be eligible to continue operations. More specifically, those […]
France's broadcasting regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), has issued a call for bids to broadcast a High Definition pay-TV service on one of the country's digital terrestrial multiplexes. The opportunity is available to all pay-TV services currently authorised on DTT who wish to replace their current Standard Definition broadcast with HD. Bids will […]
From Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris The French broadcasting regulator CSA received 32 candidates for the 13 mobile TV DVB-H frequencies by the closing time for applications. Many of the proposals come from existing channels broadcast on traditional platforms (DTT, cable, satellite, IPTV). In addition there were some created specifically for the mobile platform; whether mobile […]
The European Commission wants to give a boost to Europe’s online content sector. The Commission is encouraging the content industry, telecoms companies and ISPs to work together to make available more content online, while at the same time ensuring a robust protection of intellectual property rights. The Commission published “Creative Content Online in Europe’s Single […]
In a move aimed at YouTube and other smaller rivals, the Chinese authorities announced that all video-sharing websites must have official government approval before they can be accessed by Chinese surfers. New rules governing online content announced by the state administration of radio, film and television also stipulate that from the end of January only […]
The telecom watchdog of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will issue a licence for the mobile digital TV service in the country by the middle of 2008. The UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) have appointed a consultant to advise it on licensing issues and procedures, according to local newspapers. TRA is to issue the licence […]
Channel Four has been fined £1.5 million by media watchdog Ofcom for misconduct involving phone-in competitions on popular programmes Richard and Judy and Deal or No Deal. Viewers were urged to call a premium number after contestants had already been chosen on Richard and Judy. Deal or No Deal selected competition finalists in a way […]
Funding received by the BBC via the licence fee could soon be diminished following possible reforms ordered by media regulator Ofcom. One option under review could lead to the licence fee being sliced up so that money could be channeled to other organisations to spend on “public service” web and television ventures. Though the BBC […]