A UN expert has suggested that provisions of the UK’s Digital Economy Act and similar legislation in France that could see music and film pirates cut off from the Internet are disproportionate. The comments came in a report produced for the UN Human Rights Council on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom […]
UK culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed the major policy shift in his plan for a new generation local TV services, virtually scrapping plans for a national network spine in favour of “more financially secure” individual stations. Hunt admitted that “a series of individual stations could be more feasible and faster to deliver” than launching […]
Ofcom has outlined plans to prevent digital TV signals being interrupted by next-generation mobile services. From 2013, 4G coverage will be rolled out across the UK, with the technology set to make use of the 800MHz frequency band that will be auctioned off in 2012. The proximity of the 800MHz spectrum to the frequencies currently […]
People who illegally stream copyrighted movies, music, and TV shows online should face stricter punishment, the US register of copyrights and industry representatives told a House subcommittee. Current laws are insufficient to successfully prosecute some online copyright infringement, said Maria Pallante, the acting registra. Laws often target those who download or copy content, and websites […]
Vue Entertainment, one of the UK’s biggest cinema chains, is in talks to allow Hollywood studios to shorten the release window for a limited number of films each year. Vue wants both major and independent to sign up to mid- to long-term agreements of more than three years, during which time each studio will only […]
Cukurova Holding’s owner Mehmet Emin Karamehmet has received an additional 500 million Turkish Lira tax fine for his cable and satellite TV broadcasting company DigiTurk. This latest event in a long-running saga brings his total tax obligations in Turkey to 2.2 billion liras, say local reports. The latest claim covers a period from 2005-2009 and […]
Teléfonos de México’s (Telmex) request for a licence to offer pay-TV service has been rejected by the Mexican government, which cited deficiencies in the quality of the company’s connections with rivals’ networks. The Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (Communications and Transportation Ministry) said that Telmex hadn’t provided required information to the government. The ministry will […]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened the first e-G8 forum in Paris declaring that “[the Internet] you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and more generally all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply.” France has been in the vanguard of trying to protect rights holder […]
David Abraham, the chief executive of Channel 4, has called on Ofcom to investigate the control of audience data after warning that valuable information is being “controlled and commercially exploited” by others. Abraham said that audience data is the “new oil, or soil, of television” and that as viewing behaviour becomes increasingly measurable through interactivity […]
As part of a drive to boost creativity and innovation, the European Commission (EC) has adopted a comprehensive strategy to revamp the legal framework in which IPR operate. Its objective is to enable inventors, creators, users and consumers to adapt to the new circumstances and to enhance new business opportunities. The new rules aim to […]