Advanced Television

Regulation

Ofcom budget cut 20% this year

Ofcom is to cut its £142.5 million(€161.2m)  budget by more than 20 per cent this year in a bid to “front load” a four-year cost savings plan to meet the government’s comprehensive spending review targets. The media and telecoms regulator’s budget will fall by £26.7 million for the year to the end of March 2012, […]

March 31, 2011

HomePNA ratifies new broadband access spec

The HomePNA Alliance has announced Fast EoC, a new industry specification aimed to deliver performance up to 320 Megabits per second (Mbps) in regular mode, and up to 640 Megabits per second (Mbps) and more than 300 Mbps user data throughput to Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU) environments in a new “enhanced” mode. HomePNA’s Fast EoC targets […]

March 30, 2011

Virgin Media wins appeal over Rovi EPG patent

Virgin Media has won an appeal ruling confirming it didn’t infringe European patents for interactive programme guides held by Rovi’s Gemstar-TV Guide International because the patents were deemed invalid. The ruling by a three-judge panel in the Court of Appeal in London upholds a lower court decision from 2009 that two of Gemstar’s three patents […]

March 29, 2011

UK High Court overturns pub piracy conviction

A licensee has had a conviction for screening foreign satellite football overturned by the High Court in London. A pub in the Midlands was originally convicted and fined £500 (€600) in June 2009 for showing games using an Arab Radio and Television (ART) Network system, after the case was brought by Media Protection Services (MPS). […]

March 28, 2011

Mediapro fined €0.5m for rights abuse

The Spanish Competition watchdog, CNC, has imposed a E500,000 fine on Mediapro, shareholder in La Sexta, for abuse of dominant position in  football TV rights. CNC argues that Mediapro is abusing its competitive position by hindering the exploitation of football TV rights to the Spanish Football League and the King’s Cup by other TV operators. […]

March 23, 2011From David Del Valle in Madrid

ILS complains to EU about Ariane subsidies

International Launch Services (ILS), the Washington-located company that is best known for its Proton rocket launches from Kazhakstan, is complaining to the European Union about what it claims is the unfair subsidisation of arch-rival Arianespace satellite launch activities. Ariane launches its rockets from Kourou in French Guiana, and on March 17th received a €250 million […]

March 23, 2011By Chris Forrester

MeeGo TV working group established

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organisation dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, has revealed  the formation of the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group. MeeGo is an open source Linux project targeting multiple segments including automotive systems, netbooks, tablets, TV’s, and set-top boxes, among others, and uses Qt to enable cross-device applications. The Working Group […]

March 23, 2011From IP&TV World Forum

Brightcove Adobe Pass for TV Everywhere

Brightcove, the online video platform, has licensed Adobe Pass authentication and authorisation technology and has become a certified Adobe Pass Enablement Partner.  Brightcove is using the technology to offer new TV Everywhere authorisation services to broadcasters, cable programming networks, and distributors to streamline their initiatives to provide on-demand access to TV content across both Adobe […]

March 23, 2011From IP&TV World Forum

ISPs urged to block fileshare sites

UK rights holders from the music and film industries have identified about 100 websites that they want ISPs to block. Under a voluntary code content owners and ISPs are trying to work out, rights owners would pass evidence of illegal filesharing sites to ISPs, which would then take action against those sites. However, the proposals […]

March 22, 2011

4G auction for UK

Ofcom has launched a consultation on how best to sell off the rights to the next generation of mobile networks. The auction of 4G spectrum will be the biggest ever, equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today. The last Ofcom mobile network auction for 3G in 2000 it raised £22.5 billion […]

March 22, 2011