Lords bemoan EU's regulation of 'TV-like' services

MEMBERS OF THE House of Lords have criticised the EU Commission's Audiovisual Media Services Directive for its attempt to introduce 'burdensome and inappropriate' regulation which they reckon could damage British industry.

The EU's proposals would see 'television-like' new media services come under the same European regulatory framework as traditional broadcasting.

Television-like services include new-fangled stuff that may appear on the Interweb.

While the European Commission argued that 'new' broadcasters are competing for audiences and advertising revenue with traditional broadcasters and so should be subject to the same rules, the Committee of Lords argues that is not the role of regulation to protect established broadcasters from new competition operating under different business models.

The Committee suggests "liberalising" the provisions on advertising for established broadcasters rather than seek to extend existing provisions to new media services.

The Lords reckon that the Directive would introduce a number of advertising restrictions on news and children's programming. They argue that these restrictions may have adverse consequences for the quality of "free to air" programming available, particularly children's programming.

The Committee says it is particularly concerned that the EU's proposals could force new media broadcasters to move their base of operations away from Europe and broadcast into the EU from a non-European base where they would be exempt from the Directive.

This, the say, would be particularly damaging to the UK that has a thriving new media industry.

Chairman of the Committee, Lord Freeman said the Commission's attempt to bring a host of non-traditional media operators under the same controls as traditional "was seriously misguided, and any future efforts to do the same would be a grave error."

"Such an attempt risks damaging the new media industry, which is a vibrant and important sector of the UK's economy," he croaked.

"Now most of our concerns on the proposed Directive rest on whether the Country of Origin principle, which we see as essential to the proper operation of single market legislation, will be maintained. We are firmly convinced that it should be," he added.

When it is published, the report, entitled Television Without Frontiers, House of Lords European Union Committee (Sub-Committee), will be available here. µ