Media Network

China International Communication Co Ltd (CICC), the sole distributor of Great Wall TV, has issued a formal statement aimed at pirate Chinese TV operators:

CICC is a wholly owned subsidiary of China International Television Corporation (CITVC) and is the only company approved by China’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) to have exclusive overseas copyright of the Great Wall TV package.

It has come to CICC and SARFT’s attention that the overseas piracy of Chinese TV channels has worsened in recent years. With the full support of SARFT, CICC has released a formal statement noting that all Chinese TV channels broadcast overseas are required to be evaluated and approved by the national authority, SARFT. All operators must have legal broadcast rights and strictly comply with all relevant provisions. CICC along with domestic copyright agencies and overseas partners will actively seek justice against all unauthorized operators distributing Chinese TV to overseas Chinese.

The statement stressed that the “Great Wall TV” package is China’s only TV package authorized by SARFT to be broadcast overseas. Currently only the following five TV operators are authorized to carry the Great Wall TV package in North America: DISH Network (US), KyLinTV (US/Canada), Rogers (Eastern Canada), Bell (Parts of Canada) and Telus (Parts of Canada). All other unauthorized operators or resellers distributing the Great Wall TV package or any of its channels by any means, or advertising the names or logos of any of its channels in any forms are considered piracy.

Many unauthorized Chinese TV operators can be found throughout Chinese communities in North America. These operators offer low quality services and unreliable viewing experiences. Customers using their service often experience all types of issues including TV screen freezing, loss of signal, poor picture quality and heavy buffering, etc. and do not receive any proper customer or technical support.

Furthermore, these operators who operate without official authorization even publicly advertise false statements claiming they are approved by SARFT, the only overseas Chinese iPTV, or that they receive support from the China authority, deceiving consumers. Some companies also offer pirated content and claim this content is uploaded by their users to avoid legal action against them. CICC firmly believes these practices not only violate the law but also greatly invade the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, disrupt the overseas Chinese TV market and damage the image of China’s initiative in protecting copyrighted content. For these reasons CICC has decided to take all necessary actions to eliminate all pirate operators.

As a result of potentially banning unauthorized operators, consumers are advised that their Chinese TV service could be interrupted at any time. CICC advises overseas Chinese to only subscribe to Chinese TV services provided by those operators with proper authorization to ensure the best TV viewing experience and protecting the legal rights of the viewer.

For more information on this statement released by CICC (Beijing) please visit the official website at http://www.citvc.com.

(Source: China International Communications Co. Ltd, Beijing)

Radio Sikhuphe FM is illegally running radio broadcasts in Swaziland and government Spokesperson Percy Simelane says trouble is coming their way. The station’s Director, Justice ‘Moneymaker’ Dlamini, however, sees nothing wrong with the station’s operations despite that they are broadcasting without a licence. The station, according to Dlamini, broadcasts from link transmitters which run signals via internet and for that reason they do not need a licence.

“We do not need a licence as we are accessible through cellular phones from link transmissions via the internet. We are also available online through our www.radiosikhuphe.com. It’s like using the internet and no one needs a licence to use the net,” said Dlamini. He said his station can be accessed at 106.5 FM.

At the moment Radio Sikhuphe operates from Channel S studios in Manzini and they use a one room flat at Manzana in the capital city as a link station. He was also reached for comment at Channel S. “At times we even broadcast live soccer matches. For example, when a match is played at the Mavuso Sports Centre we can be accessed live within surrounding areas,” said Dlamini.

However, Government PRO Percy Simelane said the long arm of the law would be put to action. “It is just irrelevant as to what method one uses to broadcast but the bottom line is that for one to broadcast in this country he or she has to have a licence,” he emphasised. “Whether one broadcasts from his kitchen, under his car, from a tree, satellite or any internet method one has to apply and be granted a broadcasting licence,” he said.

“What these gentlemen are doing is illegal and the law will definitely take its course because even the first person in the country to try running a radio station from his house was called upon to apply for a licence. It was then that the SBIS was formalised to counter such,” explained Simelane adding that: “Wahlazisa siteshinje (any radio signal transmission) without a licence in the kingdom is a case for prosecution.”

(Source: times.co.sz)

* Andy Sennitt adds: When checked at 1715 UTC the website was not accessible, so presumably the station is also silent on FM.

Syrian activists are being targeted by a fake version of Google’s YouTube video site which plants malware on the PCs of people who leave comments on videos shown there, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned.

The EFF, a pressure group for free speech online, said that the site has been used to target people watching videos showing the conflict inside Syria, and that it may have captured the login details for Google accounts belonging to activists inside or outside the country. It also warns that the site offers a fake “update” to the Flash software used on most PCs to view video content.

• Read more from The Guardian

(Thanks to Ehard Goddijn for the tip)

BBC World Service has launched its first Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service with live bulletins in Russian. BBC Russian’s 10-minute IPTV news bulletins are to be broadcast Monday to Friday via Russia’s 24-hour live IPTV channel, Dozhd TV, and also will be available via the website bbcrussian.com.

Presented regularly by BBC Russian’s Oleg Antonenko and Famil Ismailov, the BBC Russian news bulletins offer a round-up of the day’s main stories. Dozhd TV also features regular live two-way inputs from BBC Russian journalists in London, commenting on British and international developments.

While BBC World Service offers its TV programming online, the BBC Russian IPTV news bulletins are a first for the World Service as content produced as an IPTV operation, from production to distribution, with no traditional transmission infrastructure. Streamed direct from London to Moscow via a high-speed internet connection, these broadcasts allow BBC World Service to offer broadcast-quality bulletins without the costs of a traditional TV transmission.

Since moving all its output online, bbcrussian.com has increased its reach by about 160% year on year according to figures for January 2012. Audiences come to BBC Russian for trusted, balanced, relevant news and information directly, and also through content-syndication partnerships bbcrussian.com has with Russian-language news websites.

BBC Russian Editor, Sarah Gibson, says: “BBC Russian evolves with the world and with our audiences. We are always looking for new ways to reach the audience in Russia who are turning more and more to the internet for their news, as recent events have shown. The ability to reach a TV audience through a growing IPTV service like Dozhd TV is really exciting.”

Moscow-based Dozhd TV broadcasts live 24 hours a day as an IPTV channel as well as via satellite, cable, mobile TV, and internet-enabled TV. Grigoriy Aleksanyan, Editor-in-Chief, Dozhd TV, adds: “This project will allow us to expand borders, to use the experience and the capabilities of one of the best broadcasters for the benefit of our TV channel.”

BBC Russian will air on Dozhd TV Monday to Friday at 1600 Moscow time with a look at the day’s top story, and at 2000 with a full 10-minute bulletin of the day’s main news. The bulletin will then be available via the website bbcrussian.com.

(Source: BBC World Service Publicity)

US President Barack Obama, in a holiday message to the Iranian people, said today that the two nations despite their tensions share a “common humanity,” as he pressed for greater freedom for those living in Iran. But the message offered fresh criticism of the Iran government on human rights issues, saying Tehran has created an “electronic curtain” for Iranians.

“The Iranian government jams satellite signals to shut down television and radio broadcasts,” Mr Obama said. “It censors the Internet to control what the Iranian people can see and say. The regime monitors computers and cell phones for the sole purpose of protecting its own power. And in recent weeks, Internet restrictions have become so severe that Iranians cannot communicate freely with their loved ones within Iran, or beyond its borders. Technologies that should empower citizens are being used to repress them.”

Because of the actions, Obama said “an electronic curtain has fallen around Iran - a barrier that stops the free flow of information and ideas into the country, and denies the rest of the world the benefit of interacting with the Iranian people, who have so much to offer.”

“I want the Iranian people to know that America seeks a dialogue to hear your views and understand your aspirations,” he added. “That’s why we set up a Virtual Embassy, so you can see for yourselves what the United States is saying and doing.  We’re using Farsi on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus.”

Even as Washington has imposed sanctions on the Iranian government, Mr Obama said his administration “is issuing new guidelines to make it easier for American businesses to provide software and services into Iran that will make it easier for the Iranian people to use the Internet.”

(Source: AFP)

The next deal for live television rights for the English Premier League could be pan-European rather than domestic, chief executive Richard Scudamore said today. For 20 years lucrative British deals with BSkyB’s Sky Sports have helped the league become the most successful in world football and in 2009 the satellite broadcaster paid £1.6 billion ($953.55 million) for the 2010-13 contract. ESPN can also screen around 23 league games - a package previously owned by Irish broadcaster Setanta.

The last UK rights deal involved six packages of 23 matches with no one broadcaster being able to bid for all of them. Sky has always been the most attractive partner for the Premier League, providing heaps of cash and award-winning coverage, but Scudamore hinted the next deal could bundle UK and continental European rights. Qatar-based Al Jazeera has been tipped as a potential new entrant into the market after it began broadcasting French soccer.

The tender process will run through the next three months and could be impacted by a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision that ruled against the Premier League and BSkyB. “Loyalty counts in many senses but remember our current arrangements are regulated heavily and our packages are put out into the open market and we have to have an open tender,” Scudamore told reporters at a sports industry event in London today.

“Fundamentally our packages have to be issued on the open market, they have to be sold to the highest compliant bidder, and they have to be sold on a stand-alone basis. There’s not a decision yet on whether or not we will make a domestic deal; one of the implications of the ECJ decision is we are still working on whether we might sell the rights on a pan-European basis.”

The ECJ ruled against the Premier League and BSkyB in October after pub landlady Karen Murphy was convicted for showing matches live via a Greek network. The ECJ found that it was not illegal to use foreign decoders to undercut the cost of a Sky package and last month Ms Murphy’s conviction was overturned by the High Court.

(Source: Reuters)

Text of report in English by China Radio International on 20 March

China and Liberia have signed a 1.4m US dollar agreement to provide some technical assistance to the state-run Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), in a bid to strengthen the close relationship between both countries.

The assistance would not be limited to providing only equipments and technical assistance to LBS alone, it would also expand China’s cooperation with the war-torn country to reconstruct and recover from its present state, for the next six years, said Zhao Jianhua, Chinese ambassador to the west African nation, who signed the pact on Monday [19 March].

He said the Chinese government would dispatch five Chinese technicians for satellite and transmission, antenna and transmitter, mechanics and electric, broadcasting equipment, as well as [an] interpreter.

The assistance would also include the provision of some necessary equipments and spare parts to Liberia, he disclosed.

“The Chinese government shall help Liberia to rent the transmitting satellite and pay the rental of the satellite for two years, from 15 April, 2012 to 14 April, 2014,” the envoy added, noting that the media has become more important in all societies and deserved to be provided with such equipment and technical assistance.

Expressing appreciation to the unflinching support by the Chinese government, the Liberian minister assured that the technical assistance rendered, whether in the form of equipment or direct intervention of expert, would be used to the benefit of the people.

“You realized the important role that communication has to play not just in the development of a country but in the reconnection of its people who had been separated by conflict,” he added.

(Source: China Radio International, Beijing, in English 20 Mar 12 via BBC Monitoring)

BBC World Service and the BBC’s international development charity, BBC Media Action, have joined forces with Radio Free Africa (RFA) and community radio stations across Tanzania to launch a new weekly radio programme facilitating dialogue between ordinary people and their leaders.

From Saturday 24 March, produced by BBC Swahili and presented by BBC Swahili’s Hassan Mhelela, Haba na Haba (Little by Little) will feature contributions from reporters at community radio stations across Tanzania, as well as from ordinary people telling their stories.

Haba na Haba will be a candid, honest and personal portrayal of people’s real lives and experiences as they confront daily issues. The 30-minute programme will give local people the chance to ask questions of officials and government representatives. Along with raising issues such as water and food scarcity, unemployment and poverty, roads, electricity, corruption, education and health, the programme will also highlight progress that is being made, and cover success stories on improved government services from around the country.

Rebecca Stringer, Tanzania Country Director, BBC Media Action, explains: “In Tanzania, media coverage tends to be Dar es Salaam-centric, and issues related to government effectiveness are often reported from a national perspective and authority-based viewpoint.

“Broadcast nationally by RFA, Haba na Haba will present these issues as people across Tanzania see them, focusing on the things that affect them in their everyday lives. By bringing local issues in the national context, the programme will also provide an interface between ordinary Tanzanians and government, empowering audiences to hold those in authority to account.”

The regional contributions for Haba na Haba will be provided by six community-based radio stations spread across Tanzania: Nuru in Iringa, FADECO in Karagwe, Pangani FM in Pangani, Jogoo in Songea, Orkonerei in Manyara, and Hits in Zanzibar.

Haba na Haba presenter, Hassan Mhelela, says he’s looking forward to working with journalists from across Tanzania: “I’m so excited to be part of Haba na Haba - it’s a programme with a truly national feel - creating a platform for both people and government to listen, to react and to understand each other’s positions.”

Haba na Haba will be broadcast by BBC Swahili and simultaneously rebroadcast by RFA - the BBC’s biggest partner station in Tanzania. Samwel Nyalla, Deputy Chairman and CEO of RFA, says: “RFA has been in partnership with the BBC since 1996, and we are proud that a vast majority of Tanzanian audiences will access the new programme, Haba na Haba, via our network of 29 frequencies across the country. Our nationwide audience of 12 million listeners who tune in to RFA every week will get an excellent opportunity to be part of this exciting and very useful new conversation spearheaded by the BBC.”

Haba na Haba will be broadcast by BBC Swahili at 1305 UTC on Saturdays, repeated at 0600, 0405 and 1406 UTC on Sundays; and by RFA at 1530 UTC on Saturdays, repeated at 0300 and 1530 UTC on Sundays. As all BBC Swahili radio content, it will be available for listening via the website bbcswahili.com.

(Source: BBC World Service Publicity)

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has today sent the following message to BBC staff:

Dear All,

Last week in a speech to the Royal Television Society, I talked about our plans for the Olympics and the other major broadcasting events of 2012. I pointed to the BBC’s current strengths - in quality, creativity and world-class innovation in technology - as well as the big challenges we face both in living within our means and in getting the BBC ready for a digital future. I also commented on speculation about my own future, but promised to tell you and the BBC Trust first when I had reached a view about the timetable.

This morning I told Lord Patten that I believe that an appropriate time for me to hand over to a successor and to step down as Director-General of the BBC would be the autumn of this year, once the Olympics and the rest of the amazing summer of 2012 are over.

When Chris Patten became BBC Chairman last year, I told him I thought there was a strong case for handing over to a successor sooner rather than later. From the point of view of the BBC, I thought that my successor should have time to really get their feet under the table before the next Charter Review process got going.

I have told the Chairman that I believe that he and the Trust should begin the public process of finding the next DG as soon as they see fit. I will of course help them in that endeavour in any way I can. We can address the exact date of the handover once an appointment is made, though I have made it clear that I want to be guided by the wishes of the Trust and of my successor, whoever that may be.

Rather amazingly, with nearly eight years in the job I am already the longest-serving Director-General since the 1970s. Over those eight years (not to mention three Chairmen, three Prime Ministers and five Secretaries of State!), we’ve weathered a series of lively storms and been through some trying as well as some very successful times together. What has made my job not just bearable, but immensely enjoyable and rewarding, is all of you: your talent and energy, your unshakeable belief in the BBC and everything it stands for.

I’ve always been on the side of change because I believe that, in the middle of a media revolution, change is the only way of safeguarding what is so precious about the BBC. But change always brings disruption and uncertainty in its wake - and I do want to say a particular thank you to everyone who has worked with me in the difficult task of transforming the BBC. Thank you for your commitment and for your patience.

It’s because of your efforts that the BBC I will be leaving is so much stronger than the BBC I inherited back in 2004. Trust and approval are at record highs, our services are in brilliant creative form and we’ve demonstrated beyond contradiction that the BBC can be just as much of a leader and innovator in the digital age as we once were in the analogue one. Now more than ever, to audiences at home and abroad the BBC is the best broadcaster in the world. It’s been a great privilege helping you to keep the BBC in that top spot over the past eight years.

I’m not off just yet though and I’m looking forward to working with you over the coming months, as we prepare for the amazing summer of 2012 - as well as for the long-term future, and continued success, of the BBC.

With all best wishes,
Mark Thompson
Director-General

(Source: BBC Media Centre)

In a tribute to the life and work of Vaclav Havel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and RFE/RL have announced the launch of the Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellowship. The inaugural Vaclav Havel fellow, Franak Viachorka, is in Washington for a week of training, and will be recognized at a reception hosted by the Czech Embassy.

Petr Gandalovic, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the US, described the goals of the program by invoking the legacy of his country’s former president. “Havel was a playwright, dissident and political leader. He had an uncompromising belief in the power of words and the power of truth to unite people and overcome tyranny. The Fellowship carries the spirit of his convictions to places struggling against censorship where - even in 2012 - people are still denied the fundamental human right of free speech.”

Fellowships will afford independent journalists from countries lacking a free media six months of professional, on-the-job training and development at RFE/RL’s Prague headquarters. The program initially targets EU Eastern Partnership countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and may expand to include fellows from other countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“RFE/RL has a special relationship with the Czech people,” says RFE/RL president Steven Korn. “This partnership will give promising young journalists an opportunity to work for impact in their own countries without fear.”

During his fellowship, Viachorka, a journalist and documentary filmmaker from Belarus, will train with RFE/RL’s Belarus service, Radio Svaboda. His visit to Washington will also include high-level meetings with journalists, diplomats, congressional staff members, and think tanks.

Viachorka has worked as a journalist and editor for several independent publications in Belarus, including as a freelancer for the BelaPAN news agency and the independent Polish satellite TV station, Belsat. He first came to the attention of Radio Svaboda at the age of 13 when he appeared from 2001-2002 on the programme “Young Voices.” In 2006 he starred in the award-winning documentary, A Lesson of Belarusian, which chronicles his teenage years in Aleksandr Lukashenka’s Belarus. Viachorka is also the author of the European travel book “Wanderer’s Guide” and director of the Citizen Journalist blog.

(Source: RFE/RL)

Al Janoubia TV, based in France, will officially begin broadcasting on NileSat tomorrow, 20 March. New media outlets continue to be created in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution. The new satellite channel claims it will be politically neutral and will strive to serve the Tunisian Revolution in developments in the field of culture, society, investment and tourism.

In late February, Al Janoubia’s founders Rabii Baaboura and Farhat Jouini announced the launch of the new TV channel and declared their objectives to the public. They described the channel as representing the people “South of the Mediterranean,” Al Janoubia will focus on the socio-cultural lifestyle in Tunisia and hopes to reach Tunisians living abroad in Europe as well. “No TV channel in Tunisia cared about that Tunisian community before,” he said.

• Read more from Tunisia Live

RT’s main YouTube channel was suspended for about eight hours on Sunday, returning online about 1000 UTC. YouTube ascribed the temporary blackout to a “technical mistake.” During the temporary suspension, anyone who attempted to access RT’s main YouTube channel was greeted with a startling message: “This channel has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy against spam, scans, and commercially deceptive content.”

During the temporary blackout, all of the content on RT’a main YouTube channel was inaccessible. RT’s YouTube account manager has confirmed it was the YouTube team’s mistake, and they have since apologized for the incident. RT’s web promotion chief Mikhail Konrad particularly stressed RT has not violated YouTube’s terms of service in any way, shape or form.

“There have been no copyright or community guideline violations on our part which could result in this kind of measures,” he said.

RT is the most popular news broadcaster present on YouTube, having racked up about 700 million views and 275 thousand subscribers since the channel’s inception. RT has a long-running relationship with YouTube and Google, and its channels are part of YouTube’s Premium Partnership program. This is the first such incident in the history of the partnership.

In 2007, RT became the first Russian media outlet to open its channel on YouTube. In 2009, RT pioneered the use of YouTube’s Content ID program in Russia. YouTube’s director of video partnerships Patrick Walker had previously lauded his company’s relationship with RT. “RT is our trump card, one of the, if not the biggest news provider on YouTube worldwide,” he told the MIPCOM 2011 conference.

The blackout sparked frenzy among RT viewers around the world attempting to access the channel and provoked speculation it had been intentionally taken down. Viewers speculated that everything from censorship to a hacker attack could have been behind the incident. Some of them said this is “ACTA in action”, while others focused on the timing, which coincided with an NYPD crackdown on an OWS protest in New York which was being covered by the channel.

(Source: RT)

Text of report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax

Tashkent, 19 March: The number of Internet users in Uzbekistan increased by more than 200,000 people since the beginning of this year and exceeded 9 million people, Interfax learnt from the Uzbek Agency for Communications and Information (UzACI).

“In Uzbekistan, where the number of Internet users reached 8.8 million last year, the number of Internet users has exceeded 9 million people to date,” the agency said.

According to the UzACI, the country is now actively expanding the network of local news websites. Today, their number in the national domain UZ stands at 10,184. Domain name registration in the UZ zone is provided by six official registry offices. The number of online state services provided through the websites of ministries and agencies has increased 197-fold, and the number of companies that provide access to the Internet is 945.

The population of Uzbekistan is 29.5 million.

(Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0741 gmt 19 Mar 12 via BBC Monitoring)

Around this time next year, Paris-based Eutelsat is due to orbit its powerful 6,000 kgs 25B satellite to the 25.5 degrees East position broadcasting to the Arab world. The trouble is that Saudi Arabian-based Arabsat already has a trio of satellite in the position (adjacent at 26 degrees East). Indeed, the Arabsat BADR-series are extremely busy, modern, and highly popular with viewers.

The problem centres on Arabsat’s use of a batch of frequencies ‘owned’ by Iran. Called Zohreh-2, the frequencies are now the focus of an intense dispute between Arabsat and Eutelsat. The ITU, which supervises the rules and regulations about orbital slots, has already ruled controversially in Iran’s favour.

• Read more from Advanced Television

Britain accused Iran on Sunday of blocking a website days after it was launched by the British government to reach out to Iranians, in the latest spat over media censorship. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the “UK for Iranians” website which he launched on Wednesday with a personal video message had been blocked three days later by Tehran.

“I condemn this action by the Iranian government. We have no quarrel with the Iranian people and regret that the Iranian authorities fear their own citizens’ interaction and involvement with the outside world,” Hague said in a statement.

Iran’s state-run English language news channel Press TV was banned from British airwaves by media regulator Ofcom in January. The BBC said on Wednesday it had suffered a sophisticated cyber-attack following a campaign by Iranian authorities against its Persian service.

Mr Hague said the website and the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter were an attempt to engage with Iranians and explain British policy. Iran blocked a similar website set up by the US State Department as a “virtual embassy” hours after its launch in December. Washington has had no diplomatic presence in Tehran since its embassy was stormed in 1979, the year of the Islamic Revolution and has led the global push to isolate Iran.

“Iran’s people have had to endure an ever-tightening stranglehold of censorship,” Mr Hague said. “The blocking of our website is only a very small part of what Iranians undergo daily: millions of websites blocked, access to e-mail services denied, international television channels jammed, films and theatre productions closed down, books unpublished, traditional Persian literature rewritten and newspapers banned.”

Many Iranians get around a government filter that blocks vast numbers of Western news and social media sites - including Facebook and Twitter - by using virtual private network, or VPN, software.

(Source: Reuters)

Related story:

• Britain launches social media channels for Iranians