Trade body the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has submitted its input to the European Commission’s (EC) call for evidence on its ‘Combating online piracy of live content’ initiative. “As signatories to the Call To Action to End Live Piracy Now, we would like to restate that an EU legislative instrument still remains the most efficient […]
Viasat’s $7.3 billion attempt to acquire London-based Inmarsat has hit a potential problem following an “in-depth” investigation by the a European Commission (EC), which says it is “concerned that the transaction may allow Viasat to reduce competition in the market for the supply of broadband in-flight connectivity (IFC) services to commercial airlines”. The Viasat/Inmarsat deal, […]
ecta, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, has analysed the leaked text of the proposed EC Recommendation on the regulatory promotion of Gigabit Connectivity, which is currently in interservice consultation within the European Commission. ecta says it is “stunned” by its content, and denounces this text, given: the absence of a public consultation on a text […]
The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions specialist Broadcom of enterprise software provider VMWare. The EC is particularly concerned that the transaction would allow Broadcom to restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate […]
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games and for PC operating systems. The deal is already […]
Over 100 organisations from the world of media, sports, music and culture are urging the European Commission to take decisive legislative action to tackle piracy of live content. As the Commission finalises its work programme for 2023, 108 organisations and companies representing media, sports and culture in Europe stress that piracy remains a major issue […]
The CEOs of 16 European telcos have issued statement calling for the largest traffic generators to make a fair contribution to the “sizeable” costs they currently impose on European networks. Noting the role of connectivity in addressing current EU challenges, they say they are writing with a sense of urgency, as the European Commission looks […]
The European Commission has adopted a European Media Freedom Act, describing it as a novel set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. The proposed Regulation includes, among others, safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and against surveillance. It puts a focus on the independence and stable funding of public […]
A paper circulated among its member states suggests that in the wake of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, the bloc is preparing to act against the “disproportionate” amount of British television and film content shown in Europe. The UK’s dominance of international broadcast sales has been described as a threat to Europe’s “cultural […]
The European Commission has concluded that the aid received by terrestrial operators for the digitisation and extension of the terrestrial television network in remote areas of Spain was against EU State aid rules. Following the annulment of a 2013 Commission decision, the additional investigation has confirmed that, between 2005 and 2008, the operators of terrestrial […]