Britain weighs in on new media rights debate
UK regulators moved on Tuesday to broker a compromise in the debate over new media rights, in which television networks have been sparring with producers over who will control downloaded TV shows.
Content providers in the United States are quickly moving to sell shows online, beginning last year with Disney's deal to sell "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" on Apple's iTunes Music Store and continuing last week with a new deal between CBS and Google.
Britain has been slow to follow, largely due to conflicts between TV broadcasters and producers over whether, for example, "Lost" downloads would be controlled by Channel 4, which airs the show in Britain, or Disney, which produces it.
Under a proposal from UK media regulator Ofcom, broadcasters would control distribution across all platforms for a set amount of time, known as the "primary window." During a subsequent "holdback window," broadcasters would be able to restrict how producers exploit a show.
The regulator is asking for comments on its proposals by March 21.
In the absence of a way to legally buy TV downloads online, Britain is the world's biggest market for illegal TV downloads, according to research last year from Web tracking firm Envisional.
Britain's publicly-funded broadcaster, the BBC, is testing a free download service for much of its TV and radio content.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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