Under Digital Britain proposals the government set a target to reduce illegal filesharing by 70 per cent within a year, and has instructed Internet service providers to write letters to people spotted downloading copyrighted content, backed by the threat of court action against persistent offenders. Under the Digital Britain proposals, if that did not have […]
US reports say Discovery Communications is the latest company joining Comcast’s OnDemand Online Trial. Until now Discovery has resisted, its' main concern about making its material widely available online has been the risk of cannibalizing its existing business and upsetting the cable operators that provide its bread and butter. In July, CBS became the first […]
Channel 4 has withdrawn from the bidding for Virgin Media’s entertainment channels, because it can't afford it. The broadcaster is reported to have told Virgin it would not submit a binding bid for Virgin Media Television, because it believes it has better uses for its limited cash resources. With Channel 4 out, Virgin Media faces […]
A court in the Netherlands has ruled that the filesharing site must block its site for Dutch internet users within 10 days or face stiff fines. Failure to comply with the ruling will result in fines of E30,000 a day up to a maximum of E3m for the three founders of the site, Peter Sunde […]
The tough consumer environment took its toll on Walt Disney's Q3 earnings, with profits down 25 per cent on falling television advertising income and declining home entertainment sales. Bob Iger, chief executive, acknowledged the difficult economic conditions but said the company, which owns the ABC television network and ESPN cable channel, had detected signs of […]
Motive Television has secured the global rights from Adecq Digital SL to distribute the patented BesTV digital terrestrial technology to broadcasters worldwide. BesTV technology enables broadcasters using their existing DTT digital broadcasting signal to broadcast programmes to a DTT set-top box, offering viewers not only the complete range of available DTT channels, but also catch-up […]
Independent web and mobile content platform Babelgum and comedy video portal Funny or Die have signed an exclusive, wireless licensing agreement to bring Funny or Die videos to mobile platforms. The agreement will bring new and library Funny or Die content to mobile users everywhere over the next two years. Plans include offering mobile users […]
BT Vision CEO Marc Watson expects Sky Sports to be part of its package by next summer. Watson told reporters that Ofcom's announcement last month that BSkyB should cut its wholsale price by almost a third will pave the way for a Sky Sports offering on IPTV platform BT Vision. Currently the platform doesn't have […]
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted judgment and issued a permanent injunction against Andrew Bate, the owner/operator of the piracy forum website www.ROM10X.com and the piracy software website www.THEFILESHOP.com. While it was operational, the ROM10X website was known in piracy circles as the leading resource for piracy information and instructions. DISH Network, NagraStar […]
Disney CEO Robert Iger has said “People are willing to pay for quality. They are willing to pay for choice. They are willing to pay for convenience.” He noted that people still pay $5 an hour to go to the movies, 75 cents an hour to read books and magazines, 50 cents an hour to […]