Advanced Television

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Echostar integrates Latens

EchoStar Europe has integrated Latens' card-less CA and middleware solution with its hybrid HDX-600 platform to create a secure and readily deployable solution for IPTV and broadband TV operators. "In order to support our strategy in Europe, it is imperative that we partner with a number of the industry's leading conditional access and middleware solutions", […]

November 12, 2009

Ofcom rejects BBC encryption on Freeview

Ofcom has rejected the BBC’s request to introduce encryption to Freeview to limit the illegal copying of high-definition TV shows, until issues raised by organisations including the Open Rights Group are addressed. The BBC is trying to change the Freeview multiplex licence to allow copy protection technology so shows on its HD channel, which will […]

November 9, 2009

Playboy loses $14m in Q3

Playboy Enterprises’ revenue fell $14m in Q3, on the back of lower income from its international TV channels and magazines. The company, which publishes Playboy magazine worldwide and creates TV programming for its own-branded TV channels, as well as mobile and radio platforms, said global revenue totaled $56m in Q3 against $70.4m in the same […]

November 9, 2009

EU 'compromise' on file-sharers

The European Parliament and Council will include in its Telecoms Reform Package an entitlement for all broadband customers in all 27 EU states to be put through a “fair and impartial procedure” before being disconnected. The outcome is a compromise agreed after intense lobbying from ISPs in one side and rights holders on the others. […]

November 5, 2009

Australian rights case 'we have no right to disconnect'

Australian ISP IINET chief Michael Malone has told the NSW Federal Court that the ISP’s service agreements did not provide it with sufficient contractual rights to take action against customers who infringe copyright online. Malone made the comments during cross-examination by lawyers representing a loose coalition of 34 entertainment companies – represented by the Australian […]

November 5, 2009

Online piracy tracker says some blame is on studios

The head of a company that tracks online piracy has suggested that the motion picture industry’s own policies are at least partially to blame for the surge in illegal downloading — especially overseas, where films are often released weeks – sometimes months – after they are available in the US. Eric Garland, the CEO of […]

November 2, 2009

Kudelski refreshes OpenTV offer

The Kudelski Group has issued a letter to OpenTV shareholders regarding the tender offer commenced by Kudelski in October valuing Open at $215 million. It states: "We firmly believe that our cash offer provides OpenTV shareholders immediate liquidity at a superior value to OpenTV's future prospects, particularly given the Company's current scale and R&D challenges […]

November 2, 2009

Discovery Channel leads Latin American pay TV channels

According to TGI Latina, a consumer study covering the region's media industry, Discovery Channel ranked as the number one pay TV channel in viewer satisfaction and weekly viewership throughout the region. Discovery Channel has occupied the top position in the TGI rankings throughout each of the ten years the study has been published. The survey […]

October 30, 2009

Google: No money for news, not guilty on content theft

Google CEO Eric Schmidt believes publishers of general news would find it hard to charge online because too much free content is available. Schmidt said he could, however, imagine niche providers of content such as business news succeeding in this area. Schmidt was responding to Rupert Murdoch's stated intent to start charging for news content […]

October 21, 2009

NZ: One warning will stop young illegally downloading

More than 70 per cent of New Zealand youth would stop accessing illegal versions of copyrighted material if they received a notice from their ISP, a survey has found. Research firm Synovate found that a notice from their ISP would be enough to stop 71 per cent of young people further accessing illegal copies of […]

October 20, 2009