Hot Topic - EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS)

The Essential Issue Is Getting The TV Signals To Viewers - January 28, 2019
News media has been talking about Brexit - the UK leaving the European Union - for what seems forever. Much has been written and spoken on this subject. Much of that, foreign and domestic, has been fake news, particularly ahead of the infamous referendum. It is the peril of the post-truth age. Brexit was founded on fear, loathing and a large dose of misinformation. Reality as the deadline looms large is guaranteed of disruption.

With Breathless Abandon New TV Rules Adopted - October 8, 2018
Ask a person to close their eyes and think of culture their senses are likely drawn to memories; usually pleasant or comforting and always emotional. People adopt culture based on ethnicity, geography and whatever spiritual context is relevant. It is learned and represents an inherent identity. We think of works of art, languages, even behaviors as culturally significant.

Adaptation Is Not Transformation - May 29, 2017
Revising media rules from the depths of the last century for today’s digital consumer preferences challenges the best and brightest legal minds. There is great and valuable logic in adapting what has gone before, not to forget warm fuzzy comfort. But rule makers are inevitably frustrated when the world changes before the ink dries on their latest remedy. A linear process disintegrates in complexity.

Brexit Could Be Rotten, Like Johnny Rotten - March 30, 2017
There have been rumbles, off and on for some time, concerning the effect of Brexit on the UK’s media sector. Brexit is, for those sleeping soundly for the last couple of years, is the popular handle for the process of the UK leaving the European Union (EU). It began officially this week and will be negotiated over the next two years, perhaps longer.

Everybody And Everything Competes, Rules To Follow - September 27, 2016
Repurposing rules for the digital age is, at best, a tedious, time consuming job. But necessity is the mother of regulation. The media sector is particularly susceptible to digital anxieties in the midst of competition unforeseen only a few years ago, or moments, as the case seems to be. Those designing new media rules are sensitive to this. Competitive advantage is always suspect, though not well understood.

Rules Are Meant To Be Changed All The Time - September 1, 2016
"When an American sees a beautiful sports car on the street he says to himself, I'm going to work hard and get one of those," to paraphrase Australian billionaire media owner, the late Kerry Packer, quoted some thirty years ago. "When a European sees that car he thinks, how am I going to get that guy out of that car." New evidence of this arrives daily.

Consternation Befits The Independent Regulator - July 6, 2015
There’s a reason politicians need to be kept a safe distance from media regulators. Actually, there are several. Tempted as they are by everything, politicians like rules administered conveniently. Interests must be served. And so many politicians reward themselves for electoral success with a hammer, terms in office spent searching for a nail.