The Board of Trustees of Internet policy, technology standards, and future development leadership source the Internet Society has expressed concern with a number of US legislative proposals that would mandate DNS blocking and filtering by ISPs to protect the interests of copyright holders. While the Internet Society agrees that combating illicit online activity is an […]
Ninety-one satellite operators, manufacturers and financiers have delivered a letter to inform world governments of the of their concerns over a proposed piece of international legislation called the Unidroit Space Assets Protocol, sponsored by the Unidroit organisation, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, based in Rome. This Protocol aims to develop a […]
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has found that Bell Mobility gave itself a significant competitive advantage by entering into exclusive agreements for the mobile rights to popular NHL and NFL content. “Canadians shouldn’t be forced to subscribe to a wireless service from a specific company to access their favourite content,” said Konrad von […]
Italy’s Authority for Competition and Markets has issued two fines totalling €380,000 to pay-TV operator Sky Italia for “unfair business practices”. The main focus of the investigation was the management of cancellation requests from subscribers and charging for calls to a help centre. According to the Authority’s weekly bulletin, Sky Italia “continued to charge its […]
Influential US trade body the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has commended Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Ron Wyden and a group of bipartisan lawmakers for introducing The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act. The CEA suggests this bill addresses the problem of foreign infringing web sites and is a strong alternative to […]
US House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Senator Ron Wyden have published the text of their online piracy bill. The measure is aimed at offering an alternative to the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act currently in front of the House Judiciary Committee. The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act […]
Apple may have to change the name of its iPad in China, after discovering that a mistake by its lawyers means it does not own the rights to the trademark. The company is facing a £1 billion court case for trademark infringement and a possible ban on selling iPads in two Chinese cities. The “IPAD” […]
BskyB finance director Andrew Griffith told the UBS conference the Competition Commission’s judgment that Sky Movies is anti-competitive in on-demand movies “was perplexing… The movies market has never been more competitive.” “Sky has never traded on exclusivity. Every movie that’s ever been on Sky Movies has had a theatrical release and has been in Asda […]
A Washington, DC, technology innovation think tank has released a study refuting claims that Congress’s efforts against online piracy would “break the Internet” and usher in censorship, suggesting these are “completely unfounded and without merit”. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation study addresses criticism of the proposed PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy […]
UK on-demand streaming player LOVEFiLM has confirmed it will stop showing movies in Flash and will instead deploy Microsoft’s Silverlight platform after coming under pressure from Hollywood to utilise a more secure platform. “We’ve been asked to make this change by the studios who provide us with the films in the first place, because they’re […]