The Experts below are selected from a list of 22410 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Christoph De Preter - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The European regulatory framework for security and privacy protection in electronic Communications
    Annales Des Télécommunications, 2006
    Co-Authors: Jos Dumortier, Christoph De Preter
    Abstract:

    The European Directive 2002/58/Ec of July 12, 2002 introduced important provisions with regard to security and privacy protection in the electronic Communications Sector. The Directive contains legal rules with regard to widely debated issues such as network security, unsolicited messages (“spam”), spy-ware and cookies, traffic data retention for law enforcement purposes or location based services. In their contribution, the authors give an overview of the most important provisions of the new European regulatory framework and examine their practical consequences for the electronic Communications Sector.

Eliza Varney - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Disability Rights in the Communications Sector: An Examination of Digital Television Regulation in the United Kingdom
    2008
    Co-Authors: Eliza Varney
    Abstract:

    Effective access to information is crucial in facilitating the participation of citizens in civic society. While digital technology has brought significant benefits (e.g. an increased number of channels, superior quality of image and sound), technological developments have also brought a new level of complexity, including the use of multiple remote controls and difficult to navigate on-screen displays. These have the potential to constitute access barriers for a number of people, including disabled people. This article relies on a definition of disability which focuses on the social barriers faced by disabled people in a particular context, rather than on the medical condition of disabled people. Concerns regarding the access of disabled people to digital television (DTV) have recently been raised at the European Union level in a report on measuring the accessibility of information and Communications technologies (ICT) in Europe (eAccessibility). According to this report, the EU Member States suffer from an 'eAccessibility deficit', as disabled persons face barriers when accessing ICT due, inter alia, to limited provisions for accessibility services such as subtitling, signing and audio description. This article examines the extent to which the framework for regulating the DTV infrastructure in the United Kingdom safeguards disability rights. The discussion focuses on the tension between social and economic values in the regulation of electronic Communications and calls for a regulatory approach based on a framework of principles which reflects citizenship values such as equality and dignity. Part one highlights the importance of effective access to information for disabled people and points towards the barriers faced by these citizens when accessing DTV. Part two examines the effectiveness of the Communications Act and the Disability Discrimination Act in safeguarding disability rights in DTV, and makes reference to the Equality Bill which is due to be introduced in Parliament in the 2008-2009 session. Part three calls for an increased level of protection for citizenship values in the regulation of DTV and for prioritising these rights over economic interests.

  • Winners and Losers in the Communications Sector: An Examination of Digital Television in the United Kingdom
    2007
    Co-Authors: Eliza Varney
    Abstract:

    Commercial pressures have weakened the adoption of regulatory measures designed to safeguard the interests of the public in the Communications Sector. Regulators have been drawn into leaving aside the protection of citizenship interests and adopting a perception of the public exclusively as economic actors. In the absence of "heightened public interest requirements" (Varona, 2004) the safeguarding of citizenship-related concerns is nothing more than an ongoing Sisyphean struggle. Any attempt for protecting these interests is rolling authority into the "abyss of unbridled commercialism" (Feintuck, 2003, 122). Professor Varona (2003, 66) has asserted that the United States is witnessing an "increased commodification of viewers" in a legal context in which the market players seem to set the rules of the game. This article assesses the extent to which a similar phenomenon is taking place within the context of the United Kingdom. I will focus on the regulation of digital television (DTV) infrastructure. I intend to demonstrate that the concerns identified by Professor Varona in relation to programming permeate the entire DTV supply chain. Regulation of DTV infrastructure involves both an economic and a public policy dimension, and protection of citizenship interests should not be limited to content-related issues. In fact, ensuring digital broadcasters' access to DTV's infrastructure is instrumental in ensuring public access to information.

  • Regulating the Digital Television Infrastructure in the EU - Room for Citizenship Interests?
    2007
    Co-Authors: Eliza Varney
    Abstract:

    This article argues that the regulation of the DTV infrastructure cannot be limited to economic concerns and that it must also address citizenship values. The analysis focuses on the regulatory framework for electronic Communications (eCommunications) in the European Union, with a particular emphasis on the control of bottleneck facilities. The argument for bringing public policy considerations under the European framework on eCommunications faces major difficulties. This could be achieved only in the long term and is dependent on the shaping of the European democratic dimension and on a greater supranational competence in matters such as pluralism and diversity in the Communications Sector. Under the current framework, public policy concerns in the Communications Sector are gradually forgotten, while the regulators are giving in to commercial pressures. The maintenance of the status quo commits the protection of citizenship values to an uncertain future and, unless we are prepared to look beyond economic interests in eCommunications, the commodification of the public will become an irreversible aspect of a market-dominated reality.

Jos Dumortier - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The European regulatory framework for security and privacy protection in electronic Communications
    Annales Des Télécommunications, 2006
    Co-Authors: Jos Dumortier, Christoph De Preter
    Abstract:

    The European Directive 2002/58/Ec of July 12, 2002 introduced important provisions with regard to security and privacy protection in the electronic Communications Sector. The Directive contains legal rules with regard to widely debated issues such as network security, unsolicited messages (“spam”), spy-ware and cookies, traffic data retention for law enforcement purposes or location based services. In their contribution, the authors give an overview of the most important provisions of the new European regulatory framework and examine their practical consequences for the electronic Communications Sector.

Pablo Ibáñez Colomo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Ofcom’s Proposal to Regulate Access to Premium Television Content: Some Thoughts
    2009
    Co-Authors: Pablo Ibáñez Colomo
    Abstract:

    In September 2008, Ofcom submitted a consultation document dealing with the regulation of access to premium television content in the UK. Ofcom’s proposal reflects some tensions in the electronic Communications Sector which are in part the consequence of the choice made in 2002 to exclude television content from the scope of the Regulatory Framework adopted at the Community level. The British regulator proposes a solution based on the imposition of a compulsory licensing obligation on BSkyB—the leading supplier of pay television services in the UK. In essence, this approach amounts to extending to premium television content the mandated access regime that currently applies to the teleCommunications infrastructure under the Regulatory Framework. The present piece provides a critical account of the regulatory proposal and details some reasons why this move may not be justified. In addition, its likely impact on the electronic Communications Sector at large is examined.

Pablo Ibanez - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Ofcom's Proposal to Regulate Access to Premium Television Content: Some Thoughts
    SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009
    Co-Authors: Pablo Ibanez
    Abstract:

    September 2008, Ofcom submitted a consultation document dealing with the regulation of access to premium television content in the UK. Ofcom's proposal reflects some tensions in the electronic Communications Sector which are in part the consequence of the choice made in 2002 to exclude television content from the scope of the Regulatory Framework adopted at the Community level. The British regulator proposes a solution based on the imposition of a compulsory licensing obligation on BSkyB - the leading supplier of pay television services in the UK. In essence, this approach amounts to extending to premium television content the mandated access regime that currently applies to the teleCommunications infrastructure under the Regulatory Framework. The present piece provides a critical account of the regulatory proposal and details some reasons why this move may not be justified. In addition, its likely impact on the electronic Communications Sector at large is examined.