Major online search providers may face a tax on advertising revenue in France under proposals being examined by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to help save creative industries from a “free-for-all” Internet culture. Under the proposals, made in a government-commissioned report, money from the tax would go to the cultural sphere. Jacques Toubon, a former culture […]
The US Department of Justice will join the Federal Communications Commission in reviewing Comcast’s $30 billion deal to take control of General Electric’s NBC Universal. Comcast’s proposed deal with General Electric for NBC Universal would hand the country’s number 1 cable operator control of a major broadcast network, 26 TV stations, several cable channels and […]
A TV ad for Sky has been banned for suggesting that the switchover to digital TV sets would be technologically complex if consumers did not sign up with the satellite broadcaster. The ASA said that because the ad pushed Sky+ as the way to “become digital” with BSkyB, whereas in fact it was not necessary […]
Hong Kong-based telecommunications services provider City Telecom is seeking a television licence. The company has submitted a licence application for a ‘Domestic Free Television Programme Service’ in Hong Kong. City Telecom plans to transmit television signals via the fibre network of wholly-owned subsidiary HKBN and interconnect to the existing common in-building coaxial cable distribution system […]
Netflix has been sued in a class-action claim because of what plaintiffs say were privacy violations stemming from a contest that used customers’ ratings to help improve the movie-rental service’s recommendation system. The company also tweaked its website to make its videostreaming service slightly more prominent. Claimants are seeking $2,500 each for the estimated 2.5 […]
The BBC Trust has given its provisional approval to the BBC’s involvement in Project Canvas, saying that the likely public value of the proposal justifies any potential negative market impact. There were more than 800 written consultation responses from individuals and industry stakeholders, and the Trust also spoke to more than 60 industry stakeholders and […]
Although no official announcement is made until this morning, the BBC Trust is giving a provisional go-ahead for Project Canvas. Set-top boxes using Canvas software are expected to be available late next year for about £200 (E220), allowing people to access the BBC's iPlayer and other web services via the TV. Partners are the BBC, […]
Along with nine major Chinese TV brands, the China Video Industry Association (CVIA) under The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MII) has filed applications for two industry standards for Web-enabled TV sets The standards are drafted mainly by CVIA, China Digital Home Industry Association (CDHIA), and Chinese TV makers such as TCL, Skyworth, and […]
The UK government’s controversial broadband tax has been detailed in the pre-Budget report. The £6 (E6.6) a year levy will be imposed on all households with a fixed line phone. The government would provide super-fast broadband to 90% of the UK by the end of 2017. The money is earmarked for the 30% of homes […]
The UK government has launched a consultation into plans to return live coverage of the Ashes and home nations’ Football World Cup qualifiers to free-to-air TV. Currently, there is a list of sports which are reserved for broadcast live only on free-to-air TV, such as the football World Cup tournament, and, a second list that […]