TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Companies Warn About EU Broadcasting Rules

Companies Warn About EU Broadcasting Rules

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:19:44 -0400

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Media and technology companies are warning
that proposed European Union broadcasting rules would restrict the
growth of emerging media formats such as video broadcasts on the
Internet and mobile phones.

On Tuesday, an alliance of British companies _ including ITV PLC, BT
Group PLC and Vodafone Group PLC, and the UK subsidiaries of Yahoo
Inc., Intel Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc. _ said a European Commission
proposal to impose rules for traditional broadcasters on new media
providers could have "unintended consequences" and hurt investment.

The European Commission wants to create a level playing field by
making TV and TV-like services _ such as broadcasts over high speed
broadband and third-generation mobile phones _ follow the same set of
rules. Those rules include limits on hate speech, advertising and the
kind of content that can be broadcast to children.

Intellect, a London-based business lobby representing technology
companies, said it would be difficult enforce the strict rules.

The EU proposal could ultimately mean less investment for an area that
has enormous growth potential _ leading to fewer companies, less
innovation and higher prices, the group said in a statement.

- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57736330

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Telecomdirect_Daily: "TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Wednesday, April 19, 2006"
Go to Previous message: Raqueeb Hassan: "Multicarrier EDGE Yields Increased Bandwidth?"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page