Ofcom has fined ‘babe channel’ Babeworld (operated by Connection Makers Ltd) £25,000 for broadcasting adult material unencrypted, and for promoting a premium rate phone service, which was not justified by the content of the programme. The fine follows several warnings and letters sent by Ofcom to ‘babe’ channels in 2006 about compliance, including warnings of [...]
Last night I received a happy email: my login info for the new site called Hulu. Hulu.com is a partnership between NBC and Fox (and others) and offers lots of content, mostly TV but a couple of full length movies as well.
It’s free to watch, but there are interstitial ads here and there (although much [...]
Ofcom today released research that attempts to measure citizen-consumer perspectives on new or additional spectrum-based services that could result from the digital divided review.
It’s an impressive package Ofcom put together. No doubt about that.
I assume this research will go a long way to silence those who have criticised Ofcom’s market-based approach in the DDR to [...]
Ofcom today released some commissioned research concerning the shopping experience for high definition televisions. It appears as if Ofcom’s goal was to see whether or not consumers are being misled with respect to the availability of / equipment needed for actual HD viewing.
It’s always good to see Ofcom focus on the consumer experience.
– [...]
Ah, November 2001 … those were the days … I was working as a media and telecoms lawyer in D.C., busily discarding branded mouse pads and logo-emblazoned coffee cups as many of my firm’s fixed wireless clients (both manufacturers and service providers) went under. Over in the U.K. things were looking grim too: [...]
Folks, it’s always interesting to see how the public — or selected portions of the public — react to proposals for change in the way they consume television. Two recent examples:
– Our very own Luke Gibbs recently wrote a piece for The Register in which he suggested that privatisation of the BBC would be [...]
The consultation document — 128 page PDF — is here. My random observations:
– Overall, I’m confused by the complexity of the document. It’s mainly aimed at the industry — that’s clear. As a consumer, and not a very technical person, I was confused by most of the document. It’s hard to [...]
Ofcom CEO Ed Richards will be speaking and answering the public’s questions tomorrow. Details:
Where: London School of Economics, Hong Kong Theatre
When: 21 Nov – 18:30
Host: POLIS at LSE
Unfortunately, I am in the warm sunny South of the USA so I cannot attend. Folks, if you do attend, here are some good [...]
TBIM — too bad it’s Monday, folks.
– I’m in the USA for a few weeks. I was going to get a BT Home Hub off ebay and destroy it crunk-style on video here in the South with some high calibre weaponry or my nephew’s monster truck, but I forgot to purchase one before I [...]
Folks, Ofcom are having a rough go of it lately …
1. The PSP: The Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport later today releases its report on Public Service Content (check here). It’s a long report, but I thought the most important nugget for OfcomWatching purposes was this:
‘Given the huge amount [...]
I just returned from London to learn that ITV are filming an episode of Lewis in my Oxford neighborhood of Jericho. According to the written notice someone from the production team slipped in my mail slot, Lewis will be investigating a murder in Jericho. Anyway, according to ITV [warning: plot spoiler] the police [...]
Tomorrow, the European Commission finally releases its review of the 2003 Telecoms Package. In a Europe of 27 countries, it will of course argue that it should establish a mini-FCC, the European Electronic Communications Market Authority. Of course, the FCC has let oligopoly run unchecked in a US of fifty states and many millions of [...]
Ofcom were targeted in a Sunday Times article about high rates of pay in the public sector. Apparently, the Taxpayers’ Alliance presented research which showed that 11 current or former senior Ofcom officials are in the top 100 of public sector pay.
So, are Ofcom officials overpaid?
I’ve previously commented on this in the context of [...]
Interesting week, folks:
– The Telegraph reports BT Group CEO Ben Verwaayen talking about fibre / next gen broadband: ‘There is no way we are going to carpet the country with fibre, but you could have incentives for us and others to go with a whole variety of bandwidth enhancing technologies.’
– In related news, it [...]
Folks, YouTube is turning out to be a very interesting method for frustrated consumers I mean citizens to share their experiences with their broadband providers. Here’s the latest (Virgin Media):
As we’ve said before — the litigation remedy may soon be approaching. The European Commission is hosting a conference on collective redress for consumers [...]
Hey folks, it’s like we are having an Anthony Lilley festival here at OfcomWatch. Last week, I commented on his call for a fresh look at public subsidy in the media marketplace. And yesterday I saw Lilley’s Huw Weldon Lecture (RTS) on the BBC. Here’s my take on his ‘points in the [...]
Well, not exactly…
He’s clearly not going to privatise Channel 4.Â
Today’s Sydney Morning Herald reports:
‘An Australian researcher is on the road to riches after discovering a way to make broadband connections up to 100 times faster.
University of Melbourne research fellow Dr John Papandriopoulos is in the throes of moving to Silicon Valley after developing an algorithm to reduce the electromagnetic interference that slows down ADSL [...]
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