Leading European telecoms companies want to levy significant charges on Google and other online content providers through an overhaul of the regime governing how data travel over the Internet, reports the Financial Times. The telcos complain that they are contending with an explosion of data on their networks, much of which comes from US sites […]
The National Association of Broadcasters has filed with the FCC a study by former FCC official Uzoma Onyeije questioning the existence of a spectrum crisis. The paper – Solving the Capacity Crunch: Options for Enhancing Data Capacity on Wireless Networks – suggests alternative solutions to auctioning broadcasting spectrum to help alleviate mobile broadband congestion. In […]
A Judicial Review of the terms of the UK Digital Economy Act brought by BT and TalkTalk has been thrown out by the High Court. The Court rejected claims that Parliament had overstepped it powers with anti-piracy measures. The ISPs’ only win was that Justice Kenneth Parker upheld one of the objections, relating to who […]
The China Video Industry Association (CVIA) has released China’s first set of online TV multimedia communications standards. Jiang Junkai, director of strategic partnerships for Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Changhong, said the standards are the first to be drafted that address Internet-connected TV sets and TV peripherals. The standards define an “Internet-connected TV” as a TV […]
European regulators are launching an investigation into telcos and other providers data traffic management practices. The European Commission says it accepts some traffic management is necessary to avoid congestion on networks but digital agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, is set to announce the regulatory investigation with a view to establishing new rules to safeguard net neutrality. […]
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has adopted ‘Principles for Internet-Connected and Hybrid Television’ and has called on its stakeholders ‘to support and respect the principles.’ The principles outline a common basis for design of all hybrid systems and cover: Linkage between broadcast and broadband; Content integrity and display of broadcast signal on screen; Access to […]
ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL have confirmed the launch of a legal appeal against the decision by the country’s competition regulator to block their proposed ‘German Hulu’ video-on-demand service. The platform was blocked because the Bundeskartellamt was concerned it would be closed to smaller content providers and could create a duopoly in the German VoD market. Both […]
The new Egyptian government is making life easier for new privately-owned TV channels to get on air. The new rules are expected to lead to many more privately-financed TV stations emerging. Sixteen new channels have already been permitted. On April 17th, Egypt’s Public Authority for Investment and Free Zones, which overseas broadcasting out of Egypt’s […]
Canada’s leading television companies are targeting Netflix and other online streaming services in an attempt to bring the fast-growing competitive threat to the TV business into the same regulations they must follow. Senior executives for Astral Media said that documents have been filed with regulators seeking a review of the California streaming service’s ability to […]
The European Court of Justice has agreed with British Sky Broadcasting and overturned the UK tax authority’s classification of a PVR and, thereby, exempted it from import duty. The Inland Revenue had classified PVRs as recording devices subject to 13.9 per cent import duty (virtually all PVRs are made in China). However, the ECJ in […]