U.K. Pitches Compromise for TV Without Frontiers Rules
The U.K. is trying to drum up EU govt support for a compromise excluding on-demand services from proposed EC draft revisions to the TV Without Frontiers (TVWF) directive, The Times reported Tues. The draft would apply traditional TV broadcasting rules to “linear” audiovisual (AV) media services -- including webcasting, streaming and Internet Protocol TV -- and set minimal rules for “non-linear"(on- demand) services, prompting fears it could squelch YouTube and other new offerings.
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The EC draft is deeply unpopular with the U.K. govt., which wants restrict it to TV-like transmissions. “A program transmitted by a broadcaster over the Net could be covered by extending existing legislation,” Broadcasting Minister Shaun Woodward was quoted as saying. “But video clips uploaded by someone is not television. YouTube and MySpace should not be regulated,” he said. Woodward’s view is said to have support from Slovakia, with other countries expected to agree before a Nov. 13 Council of Ministers meeting.
On Mon., a Lords panel began hearings into the law’s potential impact on British broadcasters. The EU Select Committee internal market subcommittee inquiry is focused on 3 areas: (1) Need for new rules in this area. (2) Whether today’s proposal would liberalize broadcasting services, guard the public interest and properly balance harmonization of AV laws and EU states’ right to control media services. (3) Whether to revise provisions such as the distinction between non-linear and linear AV services.
“Britain is at the cutting edge of new media and alternative broadcasters in Europe and we are keen to ensure that the proposals will not damage this growing industry in seeking to incorporate them into EU regulation,” committee Chmn. Kenneth Woolmer said before the hearing.
Three groups testified Mon., each “quite hostile” to the proposal for different reasons, a committee spokesman told us. The BBC voiced concern about the work required for its interactive services and website. The European Digital Media Assn. (EDiMA) and Confederation of British Industry fear the directive will drive small Internet and digital broadcasters out of business -- or out of the U.K. Both say it’s the wrong time to inflict regulation on a young booming industry, the spokesman said. The proposal, already 2 years out of date, will more stale by the time its provisions take effect, given the speed of technological change, they said.
In a position paper, EDiMA favored limited revision of the TVWF directive covering only TV and TV-like services. If the measure is broadened to cover AV services, the group said, “particular attention” should go to clarifying their definition and the distinction between linear and non-linear offerings.
The proposal “tries to look into the future and anticipate what forthcoming new media services and markets will look like,” said a May CBI paper. But many new linear and non-linear services are in their early stages or have yet to appear. Development of both should be fostered in the EU, accompanied by a more regulated environment, “until and unless it is clear that self-regulation does not work,” the organization said.
Panelists will hear Oct. 25 from Woodward and the Office of Communications, which also opposes the draft, with a 3rd hearing involving an EC representative likely, the spokesman said. A report will emerge late this year or in early 2007.