05-09-2013, 20:09
Italy’s Council of State has ruled that that the channel encrypting by the public broadcaster RAI of certain programmes on Sky’s platform, including newscasts and exclusive Italian national football matches, is illegal.
The Council of State is the highest legal-administrative body in the country and its decision confirms one by the Lazio regional court in 2012, which also came out in Sky’s favour but RAI appealed.
Both courts said that RAI must adopt a neutral attitude on all the various platforms considering that it is a public service broadcaster and that Italian TV tax is also mandatory for Sky’s subscribers.
Distributing content only on TvSat, a free-to-air digital satellite television platform launched by the joint venture between RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media, is not sufficient as its signal does not even cover every area.
The courts also noted that Sky does not obtain any substantial financial gain from broadcasting RAI programming. The decision is a major blow for RAI, which in fact rejected an offer of €350 million by Sky in 2009 to broadcast certain premium channels, as well as RAI’s FTA channels.
Shortly afterwards, the public broadcasting began encrypting some FTA broadcasts.
The Council of State is the highest legal-administrative body in the country and its decision confirms one by the Lazio regional court in 2012, which also came out in Sky’s favour but RAI appealed.
Both courts said that RAI must adopt a neutral attitude on all the various platforms considering that it is a public service broadcaster and that Italian TV tax is also mandatory for Sky’s subscribers.
Distributing content only on TvSat, a free-to-air digital satellite television platform launched by the joint venture between RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media, is not sufficient as its signal does not even cover every area.
The courts also noted that Sky does not obtain any substantial financial gain from broadcasting RAI programming. The decision is a major blow for RAI, which in fact rejected an offer of €350 million by Sky in 2009 to broadcast certain premium channels, as well as RAI’s FTA channels.
Shortly afterwards, the public broadcasting began encrypting some FTA broadcasts.
Citaat:Raad van Italië van State heeft geoordeeld dat aan het kanaal versleutelen door de publieke omroep RAI van bepaalde programma's op Sky-platform, waaronder nieuwsuitzendingen en exclusieve Italiaanse nationale voetbalwedstrijden, is illegaal.
De Raad van State is het hoogste juridisch-administratieve instantie van het land en haar beslissing bevestigt een door de regionale rechtbank Lazio in 2012, die ook in Sky's voordeel, maar RAI aansprak kwam.
Beide rechtbanken zei dat RAI een neutrale houding op alle verschillende platformen gezien het feit dat het een openbare omroep en dat de Italiaanse tv belasting is ook verplicht voor Sky abonnees moeten vaststellen.
Distributie van content alleen op TVsat, een free-to-air digitale satelliet-tv-platform gelanceerd door de joint venture tussen RAI, Mediaset en Telecom Italia Media, is niet voldoende als zijn signaal niet eens betrekking heeft op elk gebied.
De rechter merkte ook op dat Sky geen ernstig financieel voordeel uit omroep RAI programmering te verkrijgen. De beslissing is een grote klap voor de RAI, die in feite verwierp een bod van € 350.000.000 door Sky in 2009 om bepaalde premium kanalen, evenals RAI FTA zenders zenden.
Kort daarna heeft de publieke omroep begon versleutelen sommige FTA uitzendingen.
