Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC) plans to issue Taiwan’s first two mobile TV licences by the end of 2010, one to operate on Channel 35 (596-602MHz) and the other on Channel 36 (602-608MHz). The two licensees will be allowed to choose a mobile TV standard between the Qualcomm's MediaFLO and DVB-H. NCC issued five trial […]

A Florida federal court issued a $51 million judgment against Robert Ward, who posted software on the Internet that allowed individuals to illegally receive Dish Network programming using Free-To-Air receivers. In the summary judgement decision, the court made two significant holdings that will strengthen the companies’ ability to pursue pirates in the future. The court […]

Compact Media Group, the world's leading independent rights administrator and distributor of royalties, has published a report, Missing Opportunities in Digital Britain, calling for changes to the UK's current policy on secondary rights collection. The report argues that UK producers are missing out on valuable revenue streams, which are needed to maintain investment in the […]

Trial regulations in France, shortening release windows, have helped the territory to show growth in the home-entertainment sector for 2009, bucking the trend across much of Europe. Analyst Screen Digest suggests that volume business will be up by as much as 17 per cent for 2009, while market value could grow by up to 3 […]

Spain’s Cabinet has approved an Internet anti-piracy plan under which websites offering illegal entertainment downloads will be urged to stop or face being shut down. Justice Minister Francisco Caamano said the plan, which will close offending sites under a fast-track judicial process, will create a panel of experts to hear complaints against suspect sites. The […]

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 […]

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 […]