Viacom has stated that it will not drop its $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube parent Google. Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s chief executive, said that Google had not done enough to prevent content from being illegally uploaded to YouTube. Viacom, owners of MTV and Nickelodeon, claims that Google allowed more than 160,000 clips of its programming to […]

The first closure of a major UK-based pay-TV pirate site was accompanied by raids and an arrest, the anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has reported. Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, said: “We at FACT have stated very clearly that we intended to pursue those who are openly exploiting and facilitating the distribution of […]

Ofcom has warned that all adult channels face being encrypted following a spate of complaints over explicit content including allegations of on-air masturbation and the promotion of premium-rate services. The media regulator has upheld complaints against five free-to-air unencrypted outlets known as “babe” channels, in which scantily clad women invite viewers to contact them via […]

In the latest tit-for-tat DirecTV has sued Cox Communications, charging the cable operator with making false claims about its High-Definition picture. The lawsuit charges that Cox’s Internet ads include “false and misleading statements” about the HD quality of its picture versus DirecTV’s HD picture. DirecTV’s lawsuit targets a section at Cox’s web site that cites […]

A group of digital media heavyweights have issued a set of guidelines on copyright protection. The group–including Viacom, Walt Disney, Microsoft, Fox, MySpace and NBC Universal–agreed to use technology to purge pirated content circulating online, and to stop such material before it becomes widely available. “These principles offer a road map for unlocking the enormous […]

UK police may investigate the ITV phone-in scandal affair if asked to by Ofcom, and it is already reviewing evidence in the GMTV case. On ITV, the Metropolitan Police said it would take its cue from Ofcom, the media and telecoms regulator, which is planning to investigate the affair. Ofcom said: “ITV's review of its […]

UK's Ofcom is to 'grab back' capacity 02 and Vodafone have been licensed for restricted 2G services. The original mobile phone companies Vodafone and O2, formerly Cellnet, were given 2G spectrum when the UK mobile industry was founded in 1985. But Ofcom wants to release part of it to new entrants so they can run […]

ITV’s long-awaited Deloitte report into premium rate phone-in scandals has uncovered problems with up to 10 million calls to the broadcaster’s major entertainment shows. These involved viewers still being encouraged to call after a winner had been picked or being told there was a randomly selected winner when in fact there was a pre-selected short […]

The head of the Federal Communications Commission has revealed a plan to relax the media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next […]

The UK regulator’s chief executive Ed Richards said he was not persuaded that TV should be allowed to use the “digital dividend” for high-definition programming. Instead, he spoke of the “golden opportunity” of using more efficient MPEG4 compression and the DVBT2 broadcast standard to squeeze HD channels into the existing Freeview band. Ofcom is consulting […]