A government proposal to charge people with fixed phone lines 50p (E0.57) per month to help fund ultra-fast broadband has been condemned as “unfair” by MPs. The cross-party Business Innovation and Skills Committee said most of those who would pay the tax would not benefit from the faster broadband service. The focus should be on […]
Global digital standards body the DVB has confirmed that the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has formally adopted as standards the new release versions of the MHP 1.2.2 (Multimedia Home Platform) and GEM 1.2.2 (Globally Executable MHP) specifications. This marks the culmination of the refactoring work that makes GEM a self-contained specification. GEM now takes […]
A Spanish court has ordered Sogecable to pay compensation of E43.94 million for its refusal to offer its premium channels to the cable operator Auna. The Madrid judge ruled Sogecable had been in breach of conract for its refusal to sell movie channel Gran VÃa and Cable Sport to the cablenet in contravention of an […]
UK Broadcasters will soon be able to accept payment for featuring branded goods in their programmes for the first time. Ben Bradshaw, the culture minister, said the government would legislate to allow TV product placement, calling it an “important departure”. Estimates of the annual revenue generated for broadcasters such as ITV from product placement range […]
Following up on proposing a law that internet video should abide by broadcast regulation, Italy's Supreme Court has ruled that ISPs in the country must block access to Pirate Bay. Following a previous attempt to make ISPs block the site, the Court of Bergamo, on an appeal from Pirate Bay, ruled that foreign websites could […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has given its consent to the BBC and broadcast transmission firm Arqiva jointly marketing spare capacity that has become available ahead of digital switchover, as well as new capacity that will become available following the process. With the UK's digital switchover being managed region by region until 2012, certain unused capacity […]
The Joint Select Committee on Human Rights said the government’s Digital Economy Bill needed clarification. It said that technical measures – which include cutting off persistent pirates – were not “sufficiently specified”. In addition, it said that it was concerned that the Bill could create “over-broad powers”. “The Internet is constantly creating new challenges for […]
Italy’s government is forging ahead with plans to extend television-broadcasting regulations to websites that host videos. The draft decree, expected to take effect early this month, would force sites to operate more like traditional TV broadcasters within Italian borders. It seeks to “establish a principle,” Paolo Romani, Italy’s deputy minister of communications, said in an […]
The Japanese Financial Services Agency has started an investigation into KDDI over its planned purchase of Jupiter Telecommunications shares from Liberty Global, according to reports in Japanese newspapers. The FSA is asking KDDI to change the planned purchasing method for the shares to a tender offer, the report said, as the transaction in its current […]
The European Commission has determined the French plan for a tax on telecom operators to finance public broadcaster France Télévisions is an administrative charge incompatible with European law, and has opened infringement proceedings against France. The Government has two months to reply to make representations.