TRAI planning to screw with OTT services next

It was the SC which directed TRAI after a PIL by an NGO. It will happen and there will be censorship unless the OTT's follow self regulation and dont screw up. Its the world we live in sigh !!!
 
unless the OTT's follow self regulation
There did exist some self-regulation, but it was not signed by everyone. Prime and a few others did not sign it. Not sure whether it is just on paper, or if it is being followed.

AFAIK, there is a content rating exhibited by almost all shows. That and parental control settings are good enough for me. IF there is going to be a censor board for web series too, then I am sure what will happen in the future.
 
A senior official from Trai said about this, “Carriage of TV programming has been licensed out to registered broadcasters who are then allowed to give the content to cable operators or satellite players, under a licensing framework. If a third party, like an app, is showing the same channels without paying carriage charges and licence fee, it creates disparity.” He added to his words, “Either both should be under the ambit of the licence, or both should be exempted.”

another govt babu wanting extra cess for govt coffers. the govt takes so mch indirect tax now and still these people are unsatisfied with what they have got. botomless pit of taxing.
 
It was the SC which directed TRAI after a PIL by an NGO. It will happen and there will be censorship unless the OTT's follow self regulation and dont screw up. Its the world we live in sigh !!!
I dont think they are talking about Netflix and Amazon prime... its only about those apps which carry tv channels.
 
I dont think they are talking about Netflix and Amazon prime... its only about those apps which carry tv channels.
No, I think they're talking about netflix and other strreaming services.

the apps that carry tv channels signals carry the same censored signal that rest of DTH operators get
 
No, I think they're talking about netflix and other strreaming services.

the apps that carry tv channels signals carry the same censored signal that rest of DTH operators get
I read the original post on telecom talk... ot seems they are more concerned about ott taking dth revenues. Anyways will see when the actual paper comes out.

If netflix and prime are censored.. we have to go back to watching netflix us via vpn
 
A senior official from Trai said about this, “Carriage of TV programming has been licensed out to registered broadcasters who are then allowed to give the content to cable operators or satellite players, under a licensing framework. If a third party, like an app, is showing the same channels without paying carriage charges and licence fee, it creates disparity.” He added to his words, “Either both should be under the ambit of the licence, or both should be exempted.”

Regarding this issue, broadcasters having their own OTT apps have already told Trai that OTT apps should not be regulated and they have sought forbearance from Trai. On the same lines, Star India in the consultation paper regarding OTT app regulation said, “Trai does not have the authority under the Act (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997) to regulate OTTs… the internet ecosystem, of which OTTs are an integral part, is governed and regulated by the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the rules notified thereunder.”

On the other hand, DTH companies and cable operators’ associations have asked the regulator to deal with the unfair playing field that these OTT players have developed

So here lies the crux. It is the DTH and Cable operators who are unhappy that the Channels are directly reaching the customer using internet rather than the satellite / cable route.
Which makes sense since I did not switch to the new TRAI dictated Cable pricing and or a few weeks was relying on FREE content provided by the Channels. Like SonyLIV. The thing to note is that the delay between cable TV airing and the same content available for FREE on Channel website is few hours only!

No wonder the cable guys are unhappy!!


As I understand: this whole scene has nothing to do with censorship.
 
This has everything to do with Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos. They are the very definition of OTT. They don't care as much about NDTV or some other broadcaster streaming directly as about people using Netflix and Amazon Videos and having their entire entertainment fix from it bypassing the govt altogether.

Over the top (OTT) is a term used to refer to content providers that distribute streaming media as a standalone product directly to viewers over the Internet, bypassing telecommunications, multichannel television, and broadcast television platforms that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_services

The basic gist of it is that with the update to regulations on broadcasters and distributors, a lot of people just switched to OTT services like these. With no regulations, these services have no regulatory costs and nothing to pay to govt apart from the service taxes (GST). Broadcasters and distributors have numerous ways they generate revenue for the govt related to regulation and compliance (licensing and a variety of other fees). This is not so much about level playing field for DTH providers as was the case with the DTH regulations as well. The end result of those changes were ultimately better taxation transparency and higher tax revenues. Now with the people switching to OTT, they need to start regulating it so that they can control it and derive revenues form it.
 
This has everything to do with Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos. They are the very definition of OTT. They don't care as much about NDTV or some other broadcaster streaming directly as about people using Netflix and Amazon Videos and having their entire entertainment fix from it bypassing the govt altogether.

Over the top (OTT) is a term used to refer to content providers that distribute streaming media as a standalone product directly to viewers over the Internet, bypassing telecommunications, multichannel television, and broadcast television platforms that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_services

The basic gist of it is that with the update to regulations on broadcasters and distributors, a lot of people just switched to OTT services like these. With no regulations, these services have no regulatory costs and nothing to pay to govt apart from the service taxes (GST). Broadcasters and distributors have numerous ways they generate revenue for the govt related to regulation and compliance (licensing and a variety of other fees). This is not so much about level playing field for DTH providers as was the case with the DTH regulations as well. The end result of those changes were ultimately better taxation transparency and higher tax revenues. Now with the people switching to OTT, they need to start regulating it so that they can control it and derive revenues form it.
if you read the original article... the issue is not with netflix or prime.. trai doesnt even have jurisdiction there.. also supreme court has ratified net neutrality.

the issue is with dth operators losing revenue... so its majorly with tv channels streamed online. for example hotstar shows sports without giving any fees to dth.. thus directly undercutting them.

Neither netflix nor amazon has so much content to impact dth..
 
So here lies the crux. It is the DTH and Cable operators who are unhappy that the Channels are directly reaching the customer using internet rather than the satellite / cable route.
Which makes sense since I did not switch to the new TRAI dictated Cable pricing and or a few weeks was relying on FREE content provided by the Channels. Like SonyLIV. The thing to note is that the delay between cable TV airing and the same content available for FREE on Channel website is few hours only!

No wonder the cable guys are unhappy!!


As I understand: this whole scene has nothing to do with censorship.
Was waiting for some one to mention, domestic lobby. of course...
 
With Hotstar VIP subscription you do get to watch the contents couple of hours earlier before it is televised through DTH and that too without any advertisement. I think this should have pricked the DTH operators and there they could see that they will lose revenue very quickly to the streaming services.
 
With Hotstar VIP subscription you do get to watch the contents couple of hours earlier before it is televised through DTH and that too without any advertisement. I think this should have pricked the DTH operators and there they could see that they will lose revenue very quickly to the streaming services.

They cant do anything about hotstar because its owned by Star.
 
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