Chinese government’s efforts to protect online intellectual property rights (IPR) will be strengthened this year by promoting the establishment of related industry associations, said Liu Shaodong, an official in the online broadcasting department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). The number of websites that have a licence for playing video content […]

A patent holding company called Pragmatus is suing six of the largest MSOs for infringing two patents that describe storage-retrieval-playback systems that sufficiently generic they can describe any VOD system. Named in the suit are Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable, along with various other associated organisations […]

Microsoft has filed a US trade complaint seeking to prevent TiVo from importing television set-top boxes.  The complaint submitted to the US International Trade Commission in Washington accuses TiVo of infringing four patents. Microsoft is asking that TiVo be barred from importing the digital-video recorders, which are primarily made in Mexico and sold in the […]

In a rebuttal of Ofcom’s recommendation to Department of Culture Media Sport to refer to the Competition Commission its bid for BSkB, News Corporation has accused the regulator of producing a biased, seriously flawed and ‘tainted’ report. The Ofcom report and News Corporation’s submission to DCMS have been published today as the Secretary of State, […]

Communications minister Ed Vaizey has introduced secondary legislation aimed at enforce anti-piracy plans in the Digital Economy Act, passed shortly before the May General Election. The ‘Sharing of Costs Order’ covers the cost of letters sent to those suspected of piracy, as well as prosecution and appeal costs. These will be split between media rights […]

Verizon is challenging the FCC order aimed at keeping Internet service providers from blocking access to content or applications, in the courts. Verizon has asked a federal appeals court to overturn the new rule. Verizon is arguing that the FCC exceeded its authority, and violated the company’s constitutional rights. The challenge, which was expected to […]

On January 19th, the UK government’s Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the Oxford Media Convention that he would be formulating new regulations covering online programming. “I do want to look at what can be done to strengthen child protection on the internet and whether the structures we have in place are the best way to […]

UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has invited companies to run local TV stations. At the Oxford Media Convention, he said the initial schemes will be focused on “ten to twelve” major cities and will challenge bidders to register their interest by March 1st. He said: “To make this vision a reality I am today inviting […]

The Spanish Government is planning to set up a single regulatory body that would oversee the TV and telecoms markets under the umbrella of the current Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT). Initially, the Administration announced the creation, later in 2011, of an Audiovisual Council (CEMA) to oversee the TV market, separately from the CMT, with an […]