Italy may bring measures to stop France’s Vivendi strengthening its position in the country’s media and telecoms sectors, according to Reuters. Vivendi is biggest investor in Telecom Italia, with a 24 per cent stake. It also holds 29 per cent of Mediaset, the country’s largest commercial broadcaster. Reuters says the government has drafted a law […]
The Premier League is set to scrap all pay-per-view matches after November’s international window. Football clubs will instead collectively look to devise a new solution that will cover the second lockdown period and the busy Christmas schedule. Although discussions are said to be ongoing, the controversial £14.95 fee for games not picked for TV are […]
Seizure warrants have been executed against three domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works in support of a Brazilian-led takedown of digital piracy sites there, dubbed ‘Operação 404’ [Operation 404]. The coordinated federal law enforcement operation targeted online services that provided illegal copies of copyrighted works, including […]
The next UK spectrum auction has moved a significant step closer, with comms regulator Ofcom publishing the final regulations, application form and guidance for those looking to take part in the auction. To help improve mobile services and give more people access to 5G networks, Ofcom will release 200 MHz of spectrum in two frequency […]
UK media regulator Ofcom has imposed a £20,000 fine on Islam Channel Ltd in relation to its service, the Islam Channel, for failing to comply with broadcasting rules. Ofcom had previously censured the channel on October 7th last year having found that the programme contained antisemitic hate speech. Ofcom reported in its findings that the […]
The UK government announced over the weekend that England will go into a ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown for at least four weeks starting November 4th. However, Premier League football and other elite sports have been granted permission to continue during the lockdown due to the testing measures in place. Amateur sports will be put on hold. As […]
CreativeFuture, a US coalition that promotes the value of creativity in today’s digital age, has criticised so-called Big Tech’s stance on copyright, calling its views “imbalanced”. In a blog post, Ruth Vitale, Chief Executive Officer, suggests Big Tech’s house is in shambles, shaken by scandals, and people all over the world are creating pressure to […]
Juris Gulbis, chairman of the board of Latvian telco Tet (formerly Lattelecom) has been charged with possible involvement in fraud in the introduction of digital television in the country. The prosecutor’s office has indicted Gulbis and four other persons for participating in fraud, as a result of which Tet suffered a reported loss of €7,585,533. […]
Executives from Amazon and YouTube will face the Digital, Media, Culture and Sports Committee of the UK parliament on November 3rd to give evidence on the UK’s broadcasting environment, its trends and their views on its future. The rise of on-demand programming online has given rise to questions over how public service broadcasting fits into […]
The commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Antrix, has been ordered by a US Federal Court in an arbitration to pay $1.2 billion to Devas Multimedia. The US federal court for the Western District (in Washington) has confirmed an arbitration award made by the International Court of Commerce on September 14th 2015, in […]