Media companies launch campaign against new EU directive

By Steve Malone

Posted on 20 Apr 2006 at 10:47

Some of the biggest names in British media have started a campaign against a new draft European Directive aimed at regulating television services across the Union.

The group fears the proposed Audiovisual Media Services (AMS) Directive and brands the new proposals as 'Unworkable, unclear and unnecessary regulation (which will) divert investment away from the EU'.

The AMS Directive is designed to replace the Television without Frontiers (TVwF) directive that was established in the 1980s. However, while the group recognises the current framework needs to be updated it says that the current draft directive will extend regulation to areas which are best left either to the market or to self regulation.

Among the members of the group are ITV, BT, Cisco, NTL, the Internet Service Providers Association, Vodafone and Yahoo although the satellite broadcaster BSkyB is noticeably missing.

The group has called for limits on the extension of the current directive and instead proposes that self regulation is the way forward in a market sector that is still emerging and experimenting with different business models and advertising techniques.

In a white paper outlining their objections, the group says that the directive seeks to extend the current so called 'linear television' services to emerging 'non linear' services, such as TV-on-demand and Internet TV will attempt to regulate an area which has yet to be defined and may accidentally stifle innovation - the opposite of the Directive's intention.

Similarly, the group also says that by extending the current Television without Frontiers regulations to a new catchall category of 'audio visual media services', the draft directive will impose regulation on any new medium that has yet to emerge and may require and entirely different legal framework.

The group's white paper outlining its objections is at www.audiovisualstakeholders.org. Members say they plan to lobby MEPs to overturn the draft Directive before it comes into effect.