Europe champion the cause of the sat dish

[rolfw]

The European Commission has adopted a Communication in which it states that private individuals should be free to use satellite dishes without undue technical, administrative, urban planning or tax obstacles. The right to do so flows from the free movement of goods and services, which are both fundamental Internal Market freedoms.

Full article

HERE

 

[Channel Hopper]

Hurrah

Pity

1) about the disclaimer though

However the Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the material on this site

and

2) No comment on the dish size/type that is approved of


Bit more work needed I know but its at least a step in the right direction

 

[2old4this]

The legislation supposedly guaranteeing free movement of goods and services across member countries has been in place for years but it hasn't stopped virtually every satellite provider riding roughshod over it with respect to subscriptions, proprietary encryption systems and draconian restrictions on the sale of certain receivers. Rupert Bear has been the worst offender, along with those other champions of the free market and customer service, Anal+

So why not tackle those issues, rather then the trivial issue of dishes? Most consumers across Europe are already free to purchase and erect a dish. That's hardly a priority. Fact is, teh European commissions have already climbed down on, for example, their insistance that NDS licence videoguard for CI-CAMs. Now THAT would have been much more significant. Or alternatively they could break the virtual monopoly that Murdoch and others hold by virtue of their controlling both content and delivery. Perhaps then we, the consumer, would be able to choose our reception equipment to meet our own needs rather than the vested interests of the providers.

2old

 

[jimbo]

I get lots of laughs out of EU communications and directives. This is no exception and I agree with 2old that it misses the point completely, namely the control over programming. Once again I don't see Sky as a problem though. If it pays for the rights to a particular event then if you have the equipment you can see it wherever you are. On the other hand the BBC, for example, obtains rights such as Scottish international football and shows it only in Scotland. And I pay a licence fee for that.

Jimbo

 

[Channel Hopper]

I chose not to delve into the Sky issue of licensing howerver Jimbos point misses the fact that even if Sky does buy the rights for an event, it is not true that you can see it wherever you are, primarily as a result of the different platforms (and so encryptions systems) that Mr R Bear has in place in various countries in Europe, and secondarily as a result of the different footprint and continental reception characteristics (you could not see a football league match if it was on Sky Mexico or Sky Television New Zealand and you happened to be travelling and took your viewing card with you)

 

[2old4this]

Indeed. And regardles of location of TV licence, one should be free to choose the reception equipment.

What if every record company decided to adopt the same principles as our supposedly free satellite market? Sony might decide that all their artists would only be on CD-S format. Polygram might decide it was in their interests that their releases are in CD-P format. Warner might insist on only using CD-W format. In order to listen to all of those artists, we'd have a stack of different CD-players at home. Well that's exactly the situation we have with satellite TV. I already have a very powerful and flexible receiver, capable in principle of receiving ANY digital broadcast using a CI module. It also has a hard disk for recording. And it has an inbuilt positioner etc. If Videoguard were available in CI CAM form - as EU legislation had previously dictated - then I wouldn't need my Sky Digibox or my minidish. I could have everything through my Echostar DVR7000 and the main steerable dish. I could integrate the Sky channels with my other favourites, rename/resequence as desired, and I wouldn't need a Sky+ system since I could record already onto the HDD of the 7000.

Perhaps we are supposed to think ourselves lucky that they didn't adopt a bespoke transmission format, forcing us all to have both a PAL TV and a PAL-S TV...

2old