The new deal for Microsoft to buy Activision without cloud gaming rights has been cleared by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after the regulator concluded it would preserve competitive prices and better services. In August 2023, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activision’s cloud gaming rights. This […]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation under section 25 of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) into a suspected infringement or infringements of the Chapter I prohibition of the CA98 by a number of undertakings involved in the production, creation and/or broadcasting of television content. The investigation concerns the activities of […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing to make US cable and satellite operators inform the agency if a channel has gone dark for an extended period due to a retransmission dispute, and to refund subscribers for those extended blackouts. Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has circulated notices of proposed rulemakings (NPRMs) to that effect to fellow […]
Antipiracy coalition the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down two of Latin America’s largest and most visited Spanish-language piracy rings. The collective domains – Futbolparatodos.online and Pelisplus.Lat – illegally streamed live sports and a vast library of video content, drawing a combined 150 million monthly visits. Futbolparatodos, one of the most visited […]
Negotiations between the US entertainment studios and unions representing actors have collapsed, with both sides saying they remained far apart on the most significant issues. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said that it was suspending talks because they were “no longer moving us in a productive direction”. SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, […]
The legal application by South Africa’s eMedia Holdings against MultiChoice and arguing for access to TV coverage of the Rugby World Cup was thrown out by the Johannesburg High Court on October 10th. Technically, the legal move was “struck out” and not heard by the court which upset eMedia’s lawyers. The judge in the case […]
Following its probe into UK cloud services, Ofcom has referred the public cloud infrastructure services market to the Competition and Markets Authority for further investigation. The media regulator said: “Our market study has identified features that make it more difficult for UK businesses to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers. We are particularly concerned about […]
European professional organisations of the audiovisual and cultural sectors have welcomed the clarifications brought by the European Parliament on Article 20 of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), voted in plenary on October 3rd, that will prevent the provision of this article being used to challenge or weaken ambitious cultural policies set out by Member […]
South Africa’s pay-TV operator MultiChoice has the rights to show the Rugby World Cup, and rival broadcaster eTV is not happy. eMedia is suing MultiChoice and has taken out advertisements in South African newspapers complaining about what it alleges is a monopoly on sports coverage. The situation is complicated by sub-licensing rights which the nation’s […]
Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network has been fined by the FCC for not placing its EchoStar-7 craft in a correct ‘graveyard’ orbit. This is the first time that the FCC has penalised an operator under its space debris enforcement rules. The FCC says that Dish/EchoStar had “violated” its Communications Act. EchoStar 7 was launched in 2002 […]