Est. 1min 18-04-2006 (updated: 04-06-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram An industry alliance bringing together internet service providers, telecom operators, content providers and hardware makers attacks Commission plans to bring some online content under a regulatory scheme initially created for TV. Read more with Euractiv '.eu' groans under onslaught of applicants The so-called landrush period for of the .eu internet domain - the opening for private citizens - started on 7 April 2006, at 11:00 AM. Three hours later over half a million EU citizens had registered internet address ending with .eu. PositionsA new Industry Alliance to oppose the extension of the scope is spearheaded by Intellect, the trade association for the UK high-tech industry, and by the Broadband Stakeholder Group, also from the UK. The industry group backs the extension of the scope to scheduled, so-called 'linear' audiovisual services, as long as they are "identical in nature to traditional scheduled broadcast services". It is opposed, however, to including non-linear services, which include video-on-demand services, were audiovisual content is streamed to users who have or have not paid a fee for the service. The latter, the group says, should be made subject to self-regulatory mechanisms. The alliance includes industry giants such as Cisco, BT, T-Mobile, Vodafoine and Wanadoo, but also publishers of newspapers and of music, advertisers and TV channels like Channel 4 and Five. Ofcom, the British media and telecommunication regulatory authority, backs the industry alliance. The Financial Times newspaper quotes Tim Suter, in charge of content regulation at Ofcom, as warning "that new media broadcasters could base themselves outside the EU to avoid the regulations" and saying the directive "posed great practical difficulties for regulators trying to monitor the output of myriad new services rather than a limited number of traditional channels". BackgroundOn 13 December 2005, the Commission presented a legislative proposal for the revision of the 'Television without Frontiers' Directive. The Commission proposes, among other changes, to extend some of the Directive's regulatory provisions to websites and other online services streaming audiovisual digital content to their customers. As a result, the Directive would also be re-named to 'Audiovisual Media Services Directive'. The extension of the scope concerns mainly on-demand content such as shows, movies, serials, sports events and news reports, including the advertising therein. The Commission says that it does not concern video clips and animations in news and press websites, nor blogs, video podcasts, picture telephony over the internet and other non-commercial content. The obligations for digital "pull", "on-demand" or"non-linear" are different from those for television, the reason being, among other things, that it cannot be controlled as easily. Examples for content regulation obligations are: - to respect protection of minors - not to incite to hatred - to identify the media service provider - to identify advertising and other forms of commercial content - not to use surreptitious advertising - to respect rules on product placement and sponsoring - to respect some restrictions on advertising (e.g. not to advertise alcoholic beverages in programmes for minors) TimelineDiscussions on the Commission's proposal have started in the Parliament. They involve as many as six committees, with the Culture Committee taking the lead. It will present its report in June. The Parliament expects to debate the report in its October plenary session. Further ReadingEU official documents Commission:Legislative proposal for the revision of the "Television without Frontiers" Directive(13 November 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] [FR] [DE] Impact assessment [FR] [DE] Impact assessment statistical annex DG Information Society:Modernising the TV without Frontiers directive Commission (Press release):TV without Frontiers: Commission proposes modernised rules for digital era TV and TV-like services(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] Commission (Memo):The Commission Proposal for a Modernisation of the Television without Frontiers Directive: Frequently Asked Questions.(13 December 2005) DG Information Society:Why Europe needs to modernise its TV without Frontiers Directive(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Information Society:Modern rules for TV and TV-like services(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Information Society:Modern advertising rules(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Information Society:Promoting cultural diversity in audiovisual media(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Information Society:Why and how Europe seeks pluralism in audiovisual media(13 December 2005) [FR] [FR] [DE] Consolidated version of the"Television Without Frontiers"directive as amended in 1997 [FR] [FR] [DE] Business & Industry Intellect:TV Without Frontiers must go back to the drawing board, says hi-tech industry(20 September 2005) Press articles Financial Times:Media groups blast Brussels over directive(17 April 2006)
