Vince Cable, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has revealed that the UK government will shortly announce details of how it intends to modernise the Intellectual Property (IP) regime. Describing IP as a “fascinating subject area” in that there was a strong argument for imposing a temporary monopoly that protected innovation, […]
Fifteen industry-leading multichannel video providers and device manufacturers that deliver service to more than 90 million American households are launching an unprecedented Set-Top Box Energy Conservation Agreement that will result in annual residential electricity savings of $1.5 billion or more as the commitment is fully realised, US industry trade bodies the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) […]
Subhash Chandra, and his son Punit Goenka, potentially face arrest next week over allegations of extortion of Rs 1 billion by members of their staff. On December 6th a Delhi court granted the two executives interim protection from arrest until December 14th. The Chandras run the Zee broadcasting empire. They are appearing before Delhi police […]
At the initiative of President Barroso, the European Commission held an orientation debate December 5th on content in the digital economy and has agreed a way forward for modernising copyright in the digital economy According to the EC, the digital economy has been a major driver of growth in the past two decades, and is […]
The Indian media regulator has listed 24 TV channels which it says are “not conducive” to the country’s security. Fourteen of the channels originate or are supported by Pakistan. Other non-Pakistani channels includes Saudi Arabia’s national channel. The Pakistani channels are PTV, PTV Home, PTV World, Geo TV, Dawn, Express, Waqat, Q TV, Madni TV, […]
India’s parliament has been told that the country will not permit adult programming into late-night telecasts. India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told Parliament that there is no intention to alter India’s Programme Code to permit adult material. India’s 1994 Television Network Rules strictly forbid any “[Denigration of] women through the depiction in any […]
The European Commission has levied a record €1.47 billion fine on TV set manufacturers for price-fixing as they tried to hang on to margins in the dying days of Cathode Ray Tube sets. Regulators imposed the fines for fixing prices of TV and computer monitor cathode-ray tubes for a decade. Philips and LG face the […]
Back in 2010 Walt Disney Co was ordered to pay damages of $319 million to ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” game show producer Celador International. On December 3rd a US Court of Appeal denied Disney’s request for a new trial in the controversial case. UK-based Celador developed the ‘Millionaire’ format. The original ruling was […]
A Texas federal judge has refused to throw out TiVo’s patent claims against Time Warner Cable. The claim centres on Time Warner’s distribution of Motorola Mobility’s set-top boxes where TiVo argues its patents have been violated. Time Warner had counter-sued, and it was this action which the Texas judge declined. The core case has been […]
The US’s Center for Copyright Information (CCI) – a collaborative effort between content creators in the movie and music industries and leading IPSs to help educate the public and deter copyright infringement – has announced that alerts under its Copyright Alert System (CAS) – a system through which ISPs will pass on to their subscribers […]