New media exempt from regulation

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is keeping new media such as music and video distributed over the Internet exempt from broadcasting regulation, reports CBC.

CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein says regulation was not necessary, because online media is not an immediate threat to traditional broadcasting.

“We found that the Internet and mobile services are acting in a complementary fashion to the traditional broadcasting system,” he says in a statement, “Any intervention on our part would only get in the way of innovation.”

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has stepped in to regulate the countries mobile content industry in a bid to give it a boost, states The Washington Post.

The KCC says the value of the market for mobile phone content such as ring tones and games was 2.097 trillion won (R13.5 billion) in 2006, falling to 2.058 trillion won (R13.3 billion) in 2007. The market shrank further in the following year to be recorded at 1.897 trillion won (R12.2 billion).

The KCC is planning to establish an organisation dedicated to opening up mobile carriers' mobile internet networks and making that mandatory, as well as planning to establish guidelines for distributing the profits raised from mobile internet charges to prevent mobile carriers from abusing their dominance in dealing with content producers.

AT&T Services and RaySat Broadcasting have unveiled AT&T CruiseCast, the company's in-car entertainment service, with 22 satellite TV and 20 satellite radio channels, says PC Magazine.

The service lets viewers and listeners tune in via rear-seat entertainment units, and will also work in RVs and semis as well.

The system broadcasts 320x240, H.264 video at a 500Kbps data rate. Channels include USA Network, Sci-Fi, Discovery, Animal Planet, CNN Mobile, NFL Network, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN Mobile, AccuWeather, Cartoon Network, Disney and Disney XD, and Discovery Kids, among others.