In case you have not had enough debates on the revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive, here comes another chance: French Consultancy NPA Conseil is organizing yet another conference about the Directive (I found out through Broadband TV News Events �the consultancy does not seem to advertise it on their site (?)). The event will gather the UK�s Creative Industries Minister James Purnell, France�s Minister for European affairs, Catherine Colonna, as well as key industry players from both sides of the Channel.

I keep wondering what is the purpose of so many meetings� Discussions on the revision have been going on now for more than 4 years, so you can imagine the amount of time, money and energy dedicated to it. This certainly does not show in the results. Another meeting might aspire to have a substantial impact on the revision process, or (rather) it will allow participants to complain further and louder (in one way or the other). Russ�s earlier example on IPTV shows well that this is simply a fast developing market that moves in unexpected and “misterious ways”. The Commission �and many others� are trying to shoot moving targets with guns that take years to get loaded! You can�t blame them if they miss the target, can you?

At least there�s one good thing about this one day conference: Paris! (vin rouge, fromage, escargots, vie en rose�)