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Policy

Ghana demands Multichoice price cuts

Ghana’s state-owned newspaper, the Daily Graphic, has quoted the country’s minister of communication, digital technology innovation Samuel Nartey George, and saying that MultiChoice must immediately cut its DStv fees by 30 per cent. Failure will mean MultiChoice could lose its transmission licence. The Ministry will start proceedings against MultiChoice arguing that consumers “have been cheated […]

August 7, 2025By Chris Forrester

ACE shutters NC-based IPTV service

Building on its global efforts to combat illegal streaming operations, antipiracy coalition the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has reached a settlement with the operators of Rare Breed IPTV. As part of the agreement, the operators will permanently shut down their illegal service and pay a significant financial settlement. Rare Breed IPTV was an […]

August 7, 2025By Colin Mann

US Senators introduce AI rights protection Bill

US Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has joined Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in introducing the bipartisan Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act, to help creators, musicians, artists, writers, and others access the courts to protect their copyrighted works if and when they are used to train […]

August 6, 2025By Colin Mann

Astro joins ACE

Antipiracy coalition the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has welcomed Malaysia-based Astro as its newest member. Astro, a leading content and entertainment broadcasting company in Malaysia, was established in 1996 and has since built a comprehensive entertainment ecosystem that includes both pay and free-to-access TV services and OTT platforms. Currently, Astro reaches approximately 64 […]

August 5, 2025By Colin Mann

Italy strengthens online copyright protection

Italy’s Communications Regulatory Authority (AgCom) has broadened its online copyright regulations to include all live content, including films, TV series premieres, and music. The ‘Piracy Shield’ platform allows rights holders of live events to report copyright infringements and have access to illegal content blocked. They can now register on the ‘Piracy Shield’ platform, either directly […]

August 4, 2025From Branislav Pekic in Rome

South Africa mediates in SABC vs Sentech

South Africa’s department of communications & digital technologies has stepped in with an effort to solve the long-running dispute between public broadcaster SAB and transmission company Sentech. The move has seen the government publish a tender document in an attempt to solve the dilemma between two state-backed entities. “There has been an ongoing tariffs dispute […]

August 4, 2025

Roku loses legal royalty actions

In July, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed all 10 counts filed by Roku against clients of lawyers Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) including Access Advance, Dolby Laboratories, and other Dolby entities (Dolby), and Sun Patent Trust (SPT), in a lawsuit seeking to set a global royalty (FRAND) rate for the HEVC […]

August 1, 2025By Chris Forrester

Survey: Most Brits support age verification for adult sites

July 25th saw new rules from the Online Safety Act come into place, requiring adult websites and others that might contain adult content to verify that users are over the age of 18. A YouGov polling shows that, in the six days since the rules came into force, one in four Brits (26 per cent) […]

August 1, 2025

US Senators propose anti-piracy law

US Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have introduced a discussion draft of the Block Bad Electronic Art and Recording Distributors (Block BEARD) Act of 2025 bipartisan legislation that would allow copyright owners, who have had their property stolen, to seek US federal court action to block […]

July 31, 2025By Colin Mann

EchoStar avoids financial default

EchoStar’s Dish pay-TV subsidiary has made its contracted interest payments, worth $114 million, to its lenders, and thus has avoided a potential default. The payments were due on July 1st and believed to have been made on July 30th and just within the 30-day limit. EchoStar will issue its quarterly results tomorrow (Friday, August 1st) […]

July 31, 2025By Chris Forrester