The board of Virgin Media are being sued over the company’s $23.3 billion sale to Liberty Global. Virgin’s directors have been accused of breaching their “fiduciary duties” because they allegedly accepted Liberty’s bid without seeking higher offers elsewhere. Investor Jeff Grimsley has filed a complaint in a Manhattan court that the “unfair process” was meant […]
Neelie Kroes European Commission vice-president for media has blogged that the current movie release windows structure can prevent the emergence of new business models, and must be made more flexible “For me, while such ‘exclusive’ periods may be important to finance some films, or get the most out of them, rigid and uniform rules can […]
CBS CEO Les Moonves has placed his cards on the table as far as Dish Network’s automatic ad-skipping technology is concerned. In court papers filed in the dispute between the network and Dish, Moonves says that Dish has two options: either close down the AutoHop functionality for Dish DVR users, or else pay CBS an […]
The BBC Trust has commissioned a review to examine whether the way the BBC distributes its content provides good value for money for licence fee payers. The work is being undertaken by specialist media consultancy Mediatique and will look into the BBC’s UK distribution activities, from ‘traditional’ methods such as television and radio, to the […]
Google is suing BT, claiming the British telco has infringed a number of its technologies. Google has launched a series of legal actions against the firm in claiming four of its patents have been violated, and has also filed a separate case in the UK. BT had been expecting such action after it launched its […]
The UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed appeals by Digital Satellite Warranty Cover (DSWC) and Bernard Freeman and Michael Sullivan, trading as Satellite Services in a case which revolved around the so-called extended warranties offered by the businesses on Sky TV set-top boxes. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued winding up orders on the companies back […]
Importers and manufacturers of digital TVs and set-top boxes face tough new regulations before the items can be sold in the market. India’s government says that each and every unit must state that it conforms to new broadcasting standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and that each and every device, including set-top […]
Vivendi says it will fight a €1.6 billion claim filed with the Paris Commercial Court by Lagardère Holding TV, a subsidiary of Lagardère and a 20 per cent shareholder of Canal+ France. Lagardère claims that the cash management agreement concluded between Canal+ France and its parent company Canal+ Group, a 100 per cent subsidiary of […]
Sony Corp is being sued by high-end camera maker Red Digital for alleged patent infringements. Last week another camera maker ARRI settled an action with Red Digital. Red’s digital cameras are used on many Hollywood movies, notably The Hobbit trilogy. This fresh action says that three very high-end Sony cameras use and “embody the [patents] […]
Eutelsat and Luxembourg-based SES are involved in a bitter dispute over who owns the 28.5 degrees East orbital slot. On February 8th, Eutelsat’s CEO Michel de Rosen declined to add any sort of update to the problem other than to remind analysts that the dispute was now before the International Chamber of Commerce. Two separate […]