Advanced Television

Regulation

Ofcom code of practice on illegal downloaders

A proposed code of practice which implements legislative measures aimed at reducing online copyright infringement has been published by Ofcom for consultation. The Digital Economy Act 2010 requires that the code of practice is implemented no later than eight months from Royal Assent, including approval from the European Commission. Subject to consultation and approval, Ofcom […]

May 31, 2010

DMGT fined for closing Teletext

Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) has been fined £225,000 (E267,000) by media regulator Ofcom for closing the Teletext TV service. DMGT, which announced last July that it would shut Teletext’s TV service after 17 years, has been fined for breaking its public service broadcasting licence by shutting the service in December. The company closed […]

May 28, 2010

ARCEP public consultation on neutrality document

The French Postal and electronic communications regulatory authority, ARCEP, is releasing its discussion points and initial policy guidelines on Internet and network neutrality. The document is the result of a wide-reaching preliminary examination by the Authority that lasted close to seven months, which included a series of some 50 interviews and a survey – the […]

May 24, 2010

Ofcom will consider net neutrality

From Colin Mann in London UK regulator Ofcom has said it will address net neutrality in the coming months describing the issue as of 'significant resonance' in the era of digital deregulation. Ofcom board member Tim Gardam, now an academic but former C4 programme director, told the Broadcasting and Beyond conference “it is becoming increasingly […]

May 20, 2010

ASA makes first ruling against VOD ad

ASA, the UK advertising watchdog, has made its first ruling against a VOD ad, banning a zombie film trailer that ran in The X Factor final on the ITV Player. The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that the ad was frightening and inappropriate for display during a family programme because it had distressed young […]

May 20, 2010

Ofcom: 3 strikes will not apply to mini ISPs, mobile

Ofcom has confirmed that only fixed line ISPs with more than 400,000 subscribers will be forced to comply with the Digital Economy Act’s controversial anti-file sharing provisions. The communications regulator has informed the Internet Service Providers’ Association of the benchmark, and said it intends to publish rules within the next two weeks. It means mobile […]

May 19, 2010

Dish reprieve in TiVo case

A federal appeals court has granted Dish Network a rare, full-court (so-called 'en banc'”) review of a ruling it had earlier lost to TiVo, that could have resulted in the satellite TV company disabling millions of digital video recorders. However, the US Court of Appeals review is a last straw effort as damages mounted. TiVo […]

May 18, 2010

US Trade Commission: 'regulate targeted ads yourself'

Federal Trade Commision Chairman Jon Liebowitz told cable operators in Los Angeles for the NCTA show that the commission is not interested in regulating behavioural advertising so long as the industry is making “progress” toward self-regulation. “So long as self-regulation is making forward progress, the FTC is not interested in regulating in this area,” he […]

May 14, 2010

ITV’s ad rules stay… for now

ITV1 is to remain bound by restrictions on how it can sell advertising airtime, the UK Competition Commission has ruled – but it added that the mechanism should be dropped at some point and that the entire UK TV ad sales market needs a review. The commission stood by its provisional decision in September to […]

May 13, 2010

Comcast: Neutrality rules not a worry

Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, said at NCTA he was not concerned about increased regulation from the Federal Communications Commission, which is seeking new authority to regulate cable and telecoms groups. The FCC is seeking to impose tougher regulations on high-speed Internet providers to guarantee that all content creators would be treated equally over […]

May 13, 2010