Advanced Television

Policy

Sky Italia fined €2m for ‘unfair practices’

Italy’s Antitrust Authority has imposed fines totalling €2 million on Sky Italia for unfair commercial practices. The case relates to the behaviour of the pay-TV broadcaster during the Covid-19 health emergency and the consequent suspension of live broadcasting of sports competitions. One of the “unfair practices” was that Sky Italia did not automatically refund the […]

February 23, 2021

Australia: Facebook reverses news ban

Facebook has announced it will restore news content to its users in Australia. Last week, the social media platform blocked news to Australians on its platform amid a dispute over a proposed law which would force it and Google to pay news publishers for content. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had […]

February 23, 2021

Egypt mulls new broadcasting tax

Egypt’s public broadcaster, the Egyptian Radio & Television Union (ERTU), has been technically bankrupt for many years. It has been kept afloat by annual handouts from the Egyptian government. Rumours have circulated that the government is contemplating placing a supplementary tax on electricity bills in order to fund the broadcaster, and pay for expansion and […]

February 23, 2021

TRAI wants New Tariff Order 2.0 on channels

India’s telecoms regulator (TRAI) has lodged an application before the Bombay High Court for a New Tariff Order. This is the second attempt by TRAI to see consumers protected from what it alleges could be “deceptive” practices by cable operators. TRAI had initiated a similar action a year ago but was thwarted by local cable […]

February 23, 2021By Chris Forrester

Reps pressure cable over Fox News

California Democrat Representatives Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney have written to cable, satellite and streaming companies calling on them to better combat disinformation – and they name Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network as culprits. Both signatories are both on the powerful House Energy & Commerce Committee. The letter doesn’t call for the […]

February 22, 2021

BBC joins tech coalition for info verification

A group of technology and media companies has partnered to form the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a Joint Development Foundation project established to address the prevalence of disinformation, misinformation and online content fraud through developing technical standards for certifying the source and history or provenance of media content. Founding members Adobe, Arm, […]

February 22, 2021

All Premier League on TV until fans return

The Premier League has confirmed all fixtures for the 2020/21 season will continue to be made available to fans to watch live in the UK. This arrangement will be extended until Government guidance permits supporters to return to stadiums. All matches will be shown via existing broadcast partners Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video […]

February 18, 2021By Colin Mann

Australia: Facebook news ban

Facebook users in Australia can no longer share or view news content on the service. The move from Facebook is in response to a proposed law which would make tech giants pay for news content on their platforms. People outside the country are also unable to read or access any Australian news publications via Facebook. […]

February 18, 2021

Court orders CloudFlare to stop hosting illegal IPTVs

A Milan Court has issued an order to US provider CloudFlare to stop providing hosting services to illegal IPTV operators. Failure to do so will result in a penalty of €5,000 for each day of non-compliance with the judge’s order. The Specialised Business Section of the Milan Court also ordered provider Google Ireland to provide […]

February 17, 2021From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Spain: Movistar, Vodafone ‘abusive’ price rises

The Consumers Association Facua has reported to the Ministry of Consumption and the Regional Governments the alleged “abusive practices” made by Movistar and Vodafone for raising their subscription fees “without justification”, consequently breaking the law. Since January 12th, Movistar raised its Movistar Fusión price by €2-€3 for its optic fibre TV packages and between €7-€8 […]

February 16, 2021From David Del Valle in Madrid