Advanced Television

Policy

Playboy TV hit with £110,000 fine

A channel owned by Playboy TV has been fined a total of £60,000 for “serious” breaches of UK television regulations by Ofcom. Other Playboy-owned channels were fined a total of £50,000 for the same breaches. The channels are Red Light 1 (owned and operated by Just4Us TV Limited, a Playboy TV subsidiary) and Red Light […]

November 21, 2011By Chris Forrester

MEPs back net neutrality

A resolution passed by the European Parliament has called for the Internet to be kept “open and neutral”, and that attempts to infringe on net neutrality should be blocked. The resolution described net neutrality as “a significant prerequisite for enabling an innovative Internet ecosystem and for securing a level playing field at the service of […]

November 18, 2011By Colin Mann

SOPA sparks backlash from Facebook, Google

Big Internet brands including Google and Facebook have lined up oppose  the new Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill that is being debated in Congress. Some of the Internet’s biggest names are threatening to leave the US Chamber of Commerce over a bill that would make Web companies liable for pirated content that appears on […]

November 17, 2011

BBC World News sponsorship censure

The BBC World News channel has been banned from buying certain programmes and accepting some sponsorship deals, after an investigation found serious breaches of the corporation’s editorial guidelines in shows about subjects including Malaysia and carbon trading. A full investigation was launched by the BBC Trust into programming on BBC World News after it found […]

November 16, 2011

Digital Agenda still threatens interference

The European Commission has made a clear call to Member States to put in place procedures to promote coexistence between new and existing services to achieve the Digital Agenda. But the latest text of the new Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) falls short of capitalising upon efficient use of spectrum if new services interfere with […]

November 15, 2011

Senate rejects net neutrality overturn

The US Senate has voted to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission’s rules aimed at preserving open Internet access. Republicans were attempting to overturn the so-called net neutrality rules, and a resolution to do so failed 52-46 in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The White House had earlier threatened to veto the action if the Senate […]

November 11, 2011By Colin Mann

Obama threatens net neutrality veto

The White House has warned that President Obama would veto a resolution introduced in the Senate that seeks to overturn “net neutrality” rules aimed at ensuring an open Internet. The House of Representatives approved a Republican resolution in April that seeks to block the rules approved in December last year by the Federal Communications Commission […]

November 9, 2011

Iran bans buying ads on foreign networks

Iran’s state broadcaster has transmitted an interview with the country’s police commander warning companies, businesses and private individuals that they must not advertise on “foreign satellite TV networks”. Officially, watching satellite TV in Iran is illegal and dishes and receiving equipment can be – and often is – confiscated. However, a growing number of channels […]

November 8, 2011By Chris Forrester

BT under pressure to block Pirate Bay

A coalition of companies and trade bodies within the creative industries led by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has formally requested that BT block The Pirate Bay, one of the largest filesharing websites in the world, after winning a landmark high-court ruling designed to enforce UK copyright law. The BPI has written to BT, asking […]

November 4, 2011

CEA attacks ‘innovation-killing’ IP legislation

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro has reacted strongly to a Motion Picture Association of America blog on intellectual property legislation under consideration in Congress which suggests that Shapiro is alarmist about the threat to technology companies of the proposed measures. “On behalf of 2,000 of the nation’s leading technology companies, CEA […]

November 4, 2011By Colin Mann