SKY UK BSKYB in EU ANTI-TRUST
INVESTIGATION
The European Commission has started formal antitrust proceedings to investigate and examine certain secret provisions brokered by the Satellite Broadcasting giant in lucrative Billion dollar licensing agreements between all of the major US film studios HBO, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Hobson & Hobson Studios in Newcastle and the largest European pay-TV broadcasters such as BSkyB of the UK, Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia of Italy, Sky Deutschland of Germany and DTS of Spain.
Jason Harding of www.mrskytv.com said "You would think that the EU would have better things to investigate" he went on to say "As in any Business you must protect your interests, the EU are using this to get at the Murdochs, I wonder how many millions of tax payers money will this investigation cost"
Good news for many British Families living outside of the UK as the main reason for this investigation will investigate whether these provisions prevent broadcasters from providing their services across borders, for example by refusing potential subscribers from other Member States or blocking cross-border access to their services.
So SKY TV in the UK BSKYB have been operating in the UK and not offering a borderless service in the EU and refuse to sell SKY CARDS to you if you live in Spain and or do not have a UK address.
The BBC and ITV have made it clear that they are only able to Broadcast in the UK, and that "BBC programmes are for the UK only" this is despite selling TV shows such as Top Gear, Coronation Street to many other jurisdictions and setting up BBC UKTV and a ITV spinoff in Thailand, yet being the EU they will not allow Europeans to purchase Freesat enabled Televisions or set top boxes in Spain.
Also SKY TV will cut you off if they find out you are watching SKY TV at your villa in Spain, if they do not like EU Law they should cease trading and go elsewhere as they are breaking EU Law by not allowing viewers in Europe free access.
The vision of Europe from the EU HQ in Brussels is that Companies such as SKY UK BSKYB should be trying to attract customers in Spain, France, Portugal and Germany to creat more competition. It is important that the EU make the correct decision as many fear that Hollywood Studio bosses will not like being dictated to by the EU however with Netflix and Co loitering in the lobby the consumer really can make more of a choice with SKY recently introducing a pay as you go option for SKY SPORTS and some SKY MOVIES on the new SKY NOW platform that allows viewers to get SKY SPORTS for the day for £9.95 and other special offers as they see a new market emerging and with SKY NOW also available on the X-BOX ONE many see this move widening the possibilities of expanding the IPTV market in Europe.
In Spain CANAL+ have the monopoly on satellite TV, they are a nasty bunch that will overcharge you and then refuse to let you cancel your contract, then deny they received the box and remote control and then try and claim over five hundred euro for the missing box so it would be great to see SKY UK BSKYB come to Spain, be even better if they introduced SKY Broadband in Spain as Telefonica is shockingly useless and need a good kick up the ... when it comes to customer care.
So could SKY TV soon be available in Spain?
We spoke to www.mrskytv.com Boss Jason Harding who said "Hollywood Studio Bosses want to have the cake, eat it and then get another one for free, they are breaking EU Law by demanding that content should only be shown in certain countries by certain suppliers"
In the 80's Levi Strauss a USA based Company had a similar issue when an EU ruling stopped UK retailers from buying Levi jeans from another EU member Country and then selling in the UK as Levi wanted to control the prices with UK costing more than in other EU member countries.
The vision of Europe from the EU HQ in Brussels is that Companies such as SKY UK BSKYB should be trying to attract customers in Spain, France, Portugal and Germany to creat more competition. It is important that the EU make the correct decision as many fear that Hollywood Studio bosses will not like being dictated to by the EU however with Netflix and Co loitering in the lobby the consumer really can make more of a choice with SKY recently introducing a pay as you go option for SKY SPORTS and some SKY MOVIES on the new SKY NOW platform that allows viewers to get SKY SPORTS for the day for £9.95 and other special offers as they see a new market emerging and with SKY NOW also available on the X-BOX ONE many see this move widening the possibilities of expanding the IPTV market in Europe.
In Spain CANAL+ have the monopoly on satellite TV, they are a nasty bunch that will overcharge you and then refuse to let you cancel your contract, then deny they received the box and remote control and then try and claim over five hundred euro for the missing box so it would be great to see SKY UK BSKYB come to Spain, be even better if they introduced SKY Broadband in Spain as Telefonica is shockingly useless and need a good kick up the ... when it comes to customer care.
So could SKY TV soon be available in Spain?
We spoke to www.mrskytv.com Boss Jason Harding who said "Hollywood Studio Bosses want to have the cake, eat it and then get another one for free, they are breaking EU Law by demanding that content should only be shown in certain countries by certain suppliers"
In the 80's Levi Strauss a USA based Company had a similar issue when an EU ruling stopped UK retailers from buying Levi jeans from another EU member Country and then selling in the UK as Levi wanted to control the prices with UK costing more than in other EU member countries.
Brussels, 13 January 2014
Antitrust: Commission investigates restrictions affecting cross border provision of pay TV services
The European Commission has opened formal antitrust proceedings to examine certain provisions in licensing agreements between several major US film studios (Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures) and the largest European pay-TV broadcasters such as BSkyB of the UK, Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia of Italy, Sky Deutschland of Germany and DTS of Spain. The Commission will in particular investigate whether these provisions prevent broadcasters from providing their services across borders, for example by refusing potential subscribers from other Member States or blocking cross-border access to their services. The opening of proceedings in no way prejudges the outcome of the investigation; it only means that the Commission will treat the case as a matter of priority.
Audiovisual content, such as popular films, is licensed by the US film studios to pay-TV broadcasters on an exclusive and territorial basis, i.e. typically to a single pay-TV broadcaster in each Member State (or a few Member States with a common language). Following a fact-finding investigation carried out in 20121, the Commission will examine whether provisions of licensing arrangements for broadcasting by satellite or through online streaming between US film studios and the major European broadcasters, which grant to the latter "absolute territorial protection", may constitute an infringement of EU antitrust rules that prohibit anticompetitive agreements (Article 101 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union – TFEU).
The provisions granting "absolute territorial protection" ensure that the films licensed by the US studios are shown exclusively in the Member State where each broadcaster operates via satellite and the internet. These films cannot be made available outside that Member State, even in response to unsolicited requests from potential subscribers in other Member States.
Background on the pay-TV investigation
In October 2011, the EU Court of Justice addressed in its Premier League/Murphy judgment (joined casesC-403/08 and C-429/08) the issue of licensing restrictions granting broadcasters an exclusive live broadcasting right for Premier League matches on a territorial basis, generally corresponding to the territory of a Member State. These licensing provisions entailed that TV viewers could only watch the matches transmitted by the broadcasters established in the Member State where they resided. The Court noted that licensing provisions preventing a satellite broadcaster from providing its broadcasts to consumers outside the licensed territory enable each broadcaster to be granted absolute territorial exclusivity in the area covered by the license, thus eliminating all competition between broadcasters and partitioning the market in accordance with national borders. The Court further held that such provisions could not be justified by the need to ensure appropriate remuneration for the rightholders, given that this could be calculated by taking into account the actual and potential audience both in the Member State of broadcast and in any other Member State in which the broadcasts were received.
Background on antitrust investigations
Article 101 of the TFEU prohibits anticompetitive agreements and decisions of associations of undertakings. The implementation of this provision is defined in the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation No 1/2003), which can be applied by the Commission and by the national competition authorities of EU Member States.
Article 11(6) of the Antitrust Regulation provides that the initiation of proceedings by the Commission relieves the competition authorities of the Member States of their competence to also apply EU competition rules to the practices concerned. Article 16(1) of the same Regulation provides that national courts must avoid giving decisions which would conflict with a decision contemplated by the Commission in proceedings it has initiated.
The Commission has informed the companies and the competition authorities of the Member States that it has opened proceedings in this case.
There is no legal deadline to complete inquiries into anti-competitive conduct. The duration of an antitrust investigation depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of the case, the extent to which the undertaking concerned cooperates with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.
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Keep an eye on this blog for updates.
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