CASBAA has prepared a Briefing Paper to summarize global best practices when it comes to classifying and labeling content on pay-TV. A few governments in Asia are seeking to impose classification and labeling rules on the entire universe of channels transmitted on pay-TV systems. This imposes an impractical burden on channel operators, who – if such a practice became widespread – could theoretically face requirements to conduct a series of different classification analyses (according to different governments’ standards) for each program they transmit, and then place a host of potentially conflicting rating labels on each program. Other governments have found better solutions, as CASBAA describes in this paper.
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Thai pay-TV galvanized by ads
Between 2006 and 2008, Thailand removed the ban on broadcast of advertising which had handicapped the pay-TV industry for 15 years. With hindsight, the results are now clear and they are striking: a vast flowering of new indigenous channels, lower consumer rates, and a more stable funding model for growth in satellite and cable television. The attached briefing paper describes the beneficial outcome for Thai consumers and the pay-TV industry.
Downoad the briefing paper:
MPA launches Asia Pacific Thank You campaign
The Motion Picture Association Asia Pacific has created a video to promote the viewing of legitimate online videos in China. To view the video, please click here.
To view videos for other Asian markets, please visit
http://mpa-i.org/index.php/core/featured/campaigns_trailers/
New Indian Copyright Law Includes Obligations, and some Benefits, for Broadcasters
Both Houses of India’s Parliament have passed the Copyright Amendment Bill 2010, which will be finally enacted when “notified” by the government. The bill includes several provisions relevant to the broadcasting industry, including requiring broadcasters to pay royalties to owners of copyright each time their works (e.g. music) are broadcast. The bill also allows television broadcasters to use statutory licenses (with government-fixed rates) to license music and sound recordings. (Some music rights holders had demanded exorbitant rates in the past, or denied broadcast rights.) Notably, proposals to allow parallel imports of copyright works were deleted from the bill before passage. A short summary of the bill’s provisions can be found here.
ADB Study: Cultural Promotion is Fine, but Quotas Should Be Avoided
The Asian Development Bank has released a thoughtful study on issues surrounding trade in Audio-Visual Services (which includes the international pay-TV industry). The paper (“Audio-Visual Services: International Trade and Cultural Policy”) was discussed at an ADB /OECD seminar in New Delhi in January 2012.
The paper concludes there may be good reasons for governments to promote their own audio-visual industries and maintain local cultures. But it also says that some types of measures are less likely to damage economic growth than others. Subsidies for local production, and even-handed constraints on media control and concentration were cited as more beneficial; quotas restricting international trade as more damaging. The paper notes that.
The entire paper can be downloaded here
CASBAA Urges India to Abandon Retroactive Satellite Tax Plan
A host of international business associations from a wide range of India’s major trading partner and investment partner countries have urged the Indian government to abandon to impose sweeping retroactive taxation affecting a large number of industries. CASBAA has taken up advocacy on behalf of the international satellite industry. Both satellite operators and their Indian customers and consumers would suffer from the planned imposition of new tax rules. In its letter to the Indian Finance Ministry, CASBAA noted – as far as the satellite industry is concerned – retroactivity could not be justified on the basis that the government was merely “clarifying” existing tax law. Said CASBAA: “certain concepts that are fundamental to satellite services (i.e. satellite, up-linking, amplification, conversion for down-linking of any signal)…were not prevalent in India in 1976 and thus, it is inconceivable to think that a concept that did not exist in 1976 was intended to have been present in the legislation.”
Documents for download:
Letters to the Finance Minister by CASBAA
Letters to the Finance Minister by the international business associations
Letters to US Treasury Geithner from a broad coalition of business
Links:
http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k12/apr/apr113.php
http://advanced-television.com/index.php/2012/04/10/new-sat-tax-could-cripple-indian-broadcasting/
http://www.spacenews.com/policy/120405-sat-operators-protest-indian-tax.html
Establishment of the Communications Authority
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Don’t Rush to Regulate, CASBAA Tell TRAI
Proposals to reduce the allowed advertisements on TV channels in India were premature and not carefully considered, CASBAA told the TRAI in a submission. Before considering any action, the government should wait to see if planned cable digitization really has the desired effects on subscription revenues to channels. And even then, CASBAA said, why shouldn’t India use the self-regulation model, instead of heavy-handed government intervention?
Download the full submission here.
Hong Kong’s Online Code of Practice Still Offers No Deterrent Against Signal Piracy
CASBAA told the Hong Kong government its revised Code of Practice for online service providers – while potentially beneficial in addressing the problem of pirated material stored on servers within Hong Kong – still provides no effective deterrence against streaming piracy of broadcast signals. More steps are needed, CASBAA said, and soon. See the submission here.
Annual USTR Review of Intellectual Property Practices
CASBAA’s 2012 submission to the US Trade Representative says Indian progress toward cable digitization is “a major advance towards cleaning up” the massive underdeclaration pervading India’s cable TV market. If addressable digitization in India remains on track, CASBAA said, USTR should consider next year removing India from its IPR “Priority Watch List.” Other Asian markets are not doing so well; the CASBAA submission noted continuing problems with signal theft by rogue cable operators in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as mysterious gaps in Taiwan cable declarations and payments. Sadly, it also noted that things are not much improving in China’s huge market, which “has become an Asian center for pay-TV piracy.”
The CASBAA submission to USTR can be downloaded here.