IT industry issues from Intellect - read our blog...
Concept Viability... early customer engagement with the supply community
13/12/05
TVWF will hamper competition and harm competitiveness, says hi-tech industryCommission warned that the new Audio Visual Content Directive goes against EU Better Regulation principles
Intellect and the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) have today expressed their disappointment at the EU Commission’s expected decision to approve the proposed Audio Visual Content Directive.
The two organisations believe the Commission has failed to apply its own Better Regulation principles to the development of the Directive, and that in its current form the legislation will result in increased regulatory burden for the content and new media industry with little benefit to business or consumers.
Commenting following the EU Commission’s decision Antony Walker, Director at Intellect said;
"The UK content and new media industry is extremely disappointed that the Commission has chosen to table these proposals. In our view, contrary to the Commission’s claims, the Directive fails to follow EU principles of Better Regulation and will hamper opportunities for growth and high-value job creation within the EU content and new media industry.
The linear/ non-linear split may be a useful conceptual framework for policy makers but it doesn’t reflect the nature of the new interactive, on-demand, IP-based services, such as IPTV, Video on Demand, and mobile TV under development. The reality is that new services are likely to seamlessly blend push and pull characteristics. Working out which rules apply is going to be a real headache for the industry going forward.
In our view the Commission is seeking to extend old-style broadcast regulation to a nascent market that is likely to have very different characteristics from broadcasting as we know it today. In the long run, industry, government and regulators in the UK believe that these proposals are likely to prove unenforceable and ineffective. Like the e-money Directive, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Commission had to review this Directive before it is transposed into national law in 2010.
We absolutely agree that the rules on the protection of children and against incitement to racial hatred need to be updated. But this blanket regulatory approach is not the way to do it.”
Press contact: Press Office T 020 7331 2168 E This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Full name Contact telephone number Publication (publications if you are a freelance writer) Areas of interest
