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BT attacks anti-piracy plans

BT Group has criticised a government proposal that would allow UK authorities to suspend Internet access temporarily for those who engage repeatedly in copyright-infringing file sharing. BT said the 'summary justice' proposal undermines rights to due process and raise costs for consumers by requiring expensive network interventions on the part of ISPs. BT also said […]

October 7, 2009

Ball, ITV split

Tony Ball, the former Sky chief offered the job of chief executive of ITV almost a month ago, has pulled out of the process. ITV said in a statement that its executive chairman Michael Grade, who was to become non-executive, will leave the company once a new non-executive chairman has been appointed, a process it […]

September 30, 2009

Mandelson: broadband suspension shoud be ‘last resort’

Lord Mandelson has repeated that illegal filesharing posed a threat to Britain’s creative industries and it was vital for such industries to be allowed to flourish, but emphasised filesharers could have their Internet connections cut off for short periods, but only as a last resort. ISPs had reacted angrily to Mandelson's enthusiastic support for the […]

September 30, 2009

Virgin Media to proceed with secondary listing

Virgin Media has published a copy of its prospectus for listing and trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange by way of a secondary listing. It is expected that admission will become effective, and that dealings on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘VMED’ will commence, […]

September 30, 2009

Canvas STBs for Xmas 2010

Set top boxes for Project Canvas, the IP catch-up TV initiative from the BBC, ITV, Five and BT, are scheduled to be available in shops by December of next year. Richard Halton, IPTV programme director at the BBC, confirmed that, barring regulatory problems, the first Project Canvas set-top products “will be on sale by Christmas […]

September 30, 2009

FCC chairman backs wireless neutrality

Wireless carriers shouldn’t be allowed to block certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their networks, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission chairman said in a speech that drew immediate condemnation from providers. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said wireless carriers should be subject to the same “open Internet” rules that the agency has begun […]

September 23, 2009

Cable companies support DVB-C2

Nine of Europe’s leading cable network operators, representing more than 35 million connected homes, have shown their immediate support and declared their intention to exploit the operational potential of DVB-C2. In a signed statement cable network operators YouSee (Denmark), Numericable (France), Kabel Baden Württemberg, Unitymedia, Kabel Deutschland (Germany), Ziggo (The Netherlands), ZON (Portugal), ONO (Spain) […]

September 23, 2009

Murdoch and Shields together

The as yet un-named firm will pursue a strategy of investment, development and cross-discipline partnerships aimed at fusing the traditional genre of television production with the reach, power and engagement of social media. The company will additionally drive the online exploitation of Shine Group content.

September 17, 2009

New Virgin CFO

Virgin Media has named Tesco UK finance director Eamonn O'Hare as its new CFO. O'Hare will join in November after four years with the UK supermarket chain. He replaces Jerry Elliot who left the company in May. O'Hare was involved in the 2002 debt restructuring of the telecommunications provider Energis and was a part of […]

September 17, 2009

Inverto Digital Labs to support HbbTV

Inverto Digital Labs has confirmed it is becoming a supporting member of the HbbTV standard and that the HD+ hybrid set-top-box platform Scena 6, planned for the German market in Q1 2010, will support the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard. The hybrid STB platform will incorporate a CE-HTML browser from Pleyo that is working […]

September 17, 2009