In brief, critics of the EC's proposed "TV Without Frontiers" directive say it's much too black and white and doesn't take into account the dynamics of new ways to transmit and watch TV, such as via Slingbox-type devices and mobile TV.
The EC wonders what the fuss is about and says the proposed directive is clear.
Changing definitions
The EC is trying to regulate television for the future but, say critics, and the definition of "television" is changing dynamically. As Yehia Oweiss, the European sales director for Hauppage (I have one of their black boxes to receive and record TV on my laptop), says, "We are just looking at mobility and people being able to access TV anywhere on mobile devices.
"We think that people aren't just going to be watching the TV everyone thinks of, they will be watching TV their friends make, TV that shops make as adverts and media that maybe only a small group of people are interested in. There will be devices that do both one-to-many and one-to-one broadcasting."
There's much more to the article, but it's 4:00 a.m. (am I a moron for staying up so late?!) and I don't want to write any more. TIme to go to bed.
If you're interested in the future of TV regulation in Europe, it's well worth reading.
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