Electronic piracy “must be stamped out or else Europe’s competitiveness will suffer,” the European Commission (EC) said in a report on legal protection of electronic pay services in the European Union (EU). The Commission said illegal turnover associated with piracy was 1 billion euros per year, and the volume of electronic piracy had increased 5 times since 1996. It said it expected “enormous” growth in pay services over the Internet and through mobile phones and TV in the next few years: “Should the member states fail to stamp out piracy, it would lead to legitimate viewers and users having to pay higher rates, or would bankrupt legitimate services and impact national tax revenues.” The Commission said only a few member states had complied with the 1998 EC directive on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access by the May 2000 deadline. It said national implementation of the directive, which prohibited all commercial manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities related to pirated access devices such as use of smart cards to try to circumvent access protection of pay TV, radio and Internet services, was “still far from complete.” However, it said the future member states, which would have to implement the directive, were showing “encouraging progress.” The Commission said it intended to create a coherent pan-European legal framework for the protection of electronic pay services, but said it had no plans to change the EU laws adopted in 1998, partly because the national govts. hadn’t implemented them correctly. The Commission urged broadcasters and right holders “to seek contractual solutions,” when piracy resulted from the impossibility of accessing protected satellite TV channels originating from other member states. The report said the restrictive business practices of certain European pay-TV companies had boosted the sales of pirate equipment such as smart cards and decoders. The EC said it would continue to consult with member states on remaining enforcement-related difficulties to identify and eliminate loopholes in the legislation, and it would align future initiatives with the e-Commerce Directive and monitor the conditional access markets to determine whether additional antipiracy measures were needed.
Country of origin cases
The German telecom regulator RegTP said last week it cut the monthly basic charge for local loops by 5.45% to 11.8 euros to increase competition in the local network and said that price would remain valid until the end of March 2005. It said Deutsche Telekom (DT) originally had sought a charge of 17.4 euros. RegTP also rejected an DT’s request for an increase in interconnection rates for long distance and Internet connections and for a general surcharge on all call origination and termination services. However, RegTP approved a surcharge of 0.004 euros until the end of Nov. for call origination in the case of carrier selection in the local network. RegTP said its ruling made sure the carrier selected by the user “bears a reasonable part of the costs of the local loop provided, at least for a transitional period.” However, it said the new surcharge on local connections was limited to DT’s current access deficit of 1.4 euros.
The Ky. PSC ruled that payphone access lines weren’t liable for paying subscriber line charges to Alltel, BellSouth or Cincinnati Bell. The decision effectively cuts the total bill for payphone access lines 25%, which will save payphone owners $9 monthly per line. The PSC said the charge originally was intended to pay for long distance carrier access, but agreed with payphone owners’ contention that FCC payphone access policy changes had made the charge unnecessary. The PSC rejected a request to order refunds of payphone subscriber line charges paid over the last 5 years. Some payphone companies said the ruling would give them a better chance to profit and could enable them to keep payphones in marginal locations. But the Ky. Payphone Assn. said it was considering an appeal of the decision against retroactive refunds. It also said it might ask the PSC to extend the ruling to cover all incumbent telcos in the state.
The Australian telecom regulator said it would investigate whether it should continue to regulate the pricing of the wholesale mobile termination service as part of a wide-ranging review of the regulation of Australian mobile telephone services. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the review would focus on wholesale mobile termination, wholesale mobile origination, domestic and international roaming and emerging 3G services, and would consider the level of regulation of mobile telephone services. ACCC Comr. Ross Jones said the pricing of the wholesale mobile termination service was “of particular concern” as its prices had “remained fairly static,” while those for other fixed line services had “fallen considerably.” He said it had “been a major issue in Europe, where regulators have taken a much more direct role in setting prices than the ACCC.” Jones said the regulation of international intercarrier roaming was “particularly important as [the ACCC] receives a large volume of complaints from consumers about the high cost of this service.” He said the Commission intended to investigate whether there were any legitimate concerns about the price of that service and to determine what steps could be taken to address them. The ACCC invited comments by June 13.
The FCC is expected to open a proceeding soon to consider revising the federal TELRIC rules that state regulators use as guidance in setting UNE prices. Sources inside and outside the Commission expect the agency to issue a notice of inquiry -- a call for comments -- this summer, perhaps before it tackles the complex wireline broadband order. “I think it may be sooner than originally planned,” one commissioner said.
N.Y.-based Bridges Network said it planned to start an English-language Muslim TV channel in the summer. It said the start of the first nationwide channel targeted at Muslims would be contingent on the network gathering the “10,000 paying members necessary to demonstrate public support.” To be called Bridges TV, the channel will have news, talk shows, “wholesome” sitcoms, children’s programming and movies about Muslims’ life in America, the network said. Programming will mostly be original because an English-language genre targeting American Muslims doesn’t exist, it said.
A TV network devoted exclusively to automobiles, motorcycles and trucks will be started in the 4th quarter, Automotive Networks said. Wheels TV will have lineup of original and acquired programming, including magazine and lifestyle programs, documentaries, new vehicle profiles, how- to shows and travel, safety and recall alerts.
The FCC Wireless Bureau granted Qualcomm an additional year to use the rest of an auction discount voucher (ADV) that had been set to expire June 8. Qualcomm asked for the extension last month, saying it had made diligent efforts to use the voucher within the required 3-year period but had been stymied by factors such as limited auction opportunities. The Bureau called Qualcomm’s request for additional time “reasonable.” The FCC in June 2000 granted a $125-million auction discount voucher to the company to be used in any auction within 3 years as long as it went toward CDMA development. The award of the voucher was part of a settlement of a lawsuit involving Qualcomm’s claim for pioneer’s preference in its development of CDMA technology. Last year, the Commission said Qualcomm could use the waiver to help existing CDMA licensees pay off auction debt instead of simply for future bid obligations. Of the original $125 million voucher, Qualcomm has transferred $10.8 million to Summit Wireless to pay for a license in Jackson, Miss. Qualcomm now has until June 8, 2004, to use the balance of $114.4 million on its voucher. The Bureau said Qualcomm had considered using the voucher in a lower 700 MHz band auction that starts May 28. “We have no reason to disagree with Qualcomm’s belief that a year’s extension should provide Qualcomm with sufficient time to fully use the ADV,” the order said.
The European Union (EU) Tues. unveiled its offer for the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks. The EU proposed to open its markets to 3rd countries in several sectors, including telecom and computer services. The offer focuses particularly on giving services providers from developing countries better access to European markets, the European Commission (EC) said. In the area of telecom, the EU offered to guarantee 3rd countries’ operators full access to the internal market, while protecting the EU’s right to define its universal service objectives. The offer also would remove restrictions such as (1) the prohibition against telcos’ engaging in nontelecom activities (computer-related services) in Greece, (2) restriction on foreign ownership in Portugal or (3) bans against providing telecom services across borders in several member states. In computer services, the EU said it would give full market access to foreign service providers, including highly skilled, self- employed computer experts. For example, the EC said, foreign computer experts will be allowed to enter the EU temporarily to maintain and repair computer systems and networks. The EU made no new commitment on audiovisual services, maintaining privileged treatment for, among other things, audiovisual works originating from the EU and other European countries.
Fairfax County, Va., Judge Terrence Ney postponed the jury trial involving Hercules Satellite Communications until Aug. 18, the company said. Hercules is suing ITXC and a subsidiary for $130 million, it said. Details of the suit weren’t provided. The trial, originally scheduled for May 19, was postponed at ITXC’s request after it received an acquisition bid from IDT April 10, Hercules said.