Netflix, Hotstar will soon need a license

M

meetdilip

Adept
Will Netflix, Hotstar and other streaming services would need a license to work in India ? Looks like it the way TRAI is going. There is a proposal to consider these services as IPTV and put norms and licenses to it.

TRAI is already in works on proposals for Over The Top providers in Indian scenario. Is it the telecos who want to put a rope around streaming services ? No idea, but there is an opinion going around saying that there should be some law of land applicable to these services as in China

Source : http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AS...ion-for-online-video-streaming-platforms.html
 
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The primary issue, the person added, is that certain broadcasters are airing content on their video streaming platforms for free, while the same content is chargeable on DTH and cable networks, posing a threat to the latter.
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Netflix / Amazon Prime / Hotstar etc are not free. Where does this person get his info from? That guy probably does not even pay for his internet. Must be stealing bandwidth from some open wifi channel.
 
Hotstar is partially free. The premium episodes in serials gets free on next day 11 am and there is a vast catalouge of free content in Hotstar.

As for content is free, I guess, the author meant without any license or permit fees.
 
even we don't pay license for watching tv or listening to radio. we only pay money for the dth provider who pays money to the programming provider.
Even ISP's pay fees to start their service just like dth providers. we pay money to the isp for accessing content on the net. I don't understand what the problem is.
 
I am not taking their side, but as far as I could grab the argument, it is like if you air the content through TV, you need to pay. No fees at all if you air it through the internet. That is what the proposal in front of TRAI is.

For example, I made a TV series. If you use TV to air it, I need to pay a lot of fees to get permits for a channel. But, if I decide to air the same content in the same country through the internet, all I need is a streaming website and no fees, license or permit.

The whole thing is viewed from a content provider mindset.
 
This is nothing but the cable/dth lobby trying to flex its muscle as cable/dth operators are losing subscribers thick and fast. Personally I do not see a reason to subscribe to DTH/Cable anymore.
 
I actually like ads on TV.

Not the every 5 minutes bs on the Hindi channels, but the English channels operate on a very comfortable frequency.
Gives time for channel surfing and bathroom breaks.

The no-ad-breaks content is fatigue inducing, being forced to plant ass and never move.
 
saumilsingh said:
I actually like ads on TV.

Not the every 5 minutes bs on the Hindi channels, but the English channels operate on a very comfortable frequency.
Gives time for channel surfing and bathroom breaks.

The no-ad-breaks content is fatigue inducing, being forced to plant ass and never move.
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No pause button in remote? I usually pause anything if I need a break.
 
I have the DVR (recording) STBs from TataSky... so it's like best of both worlds - you can skip the ads (fast forward) and also pause when you need to. :D
 
Well, the main purpose of watching TV is I just wanna zone off and not be in control.

Pausing, which also turns on recording means active content goes on a different timeline than stuff I want to lazy-browse during breaks.
It's just another layer of hassle I don't want to deal with.

I watch 5 things at once and ad breaks provide perfect "out of my control" periods for surfing.

The other day I was watching a movie, and Forged in Fire was on History. And you just gotta know who made the best knife right?
So I put the movie on pause and the 2 hour movie became a 3 hour movie.


Yep, I am over-thinking the very act of not having to overthink :D.
 
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