France

[FR] Signature of a Charter Laying Down a Framework for Editorial Responsibility on Connected Television

IRIS 2011-1:1/28

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

The arrival of the Internet on the television screen has been a source of much debate for some months already. In the United States, Google has launched a Google TV box and has joined forces with Sony for connecting it directly to television sets. Similarly, Apple TV - hosted in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - offers exclusive access to films and series distributed on iTunes, while Eurosport is working with Panasonic to broadcast sports events on catch-up TV. At present the television channels obtain authorisation to broadcast from the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory body - CSA) in exchange for observing a number of obligations (on advertising, protection of minors, respect for copyright, etc.) in respect of their “editorial responsibility”. Such obligations do not exist on the Internet, and if the Internet and television are to live together, it is necessary to define a number of rules on the subject. After several months of discussion, the chairmen of the 18 main television channels in France have announced that they have signed an “editors’ charter on how to display on-line content and services and other related video material on television screens”. The television channels’ aim is to retain control over content. The signatories want to exercise total, exclusive control over the content and services displayed at the same time as, or on either side of, the programmes they broadcast. This means that web players that wish to include web content on either side of these programmes will be limited in what they can do. The text states that the TV editors are the only players authorised to guarantee the compliance of the content displayed with the regulatory constraints in force, their agreement with the CSA or their contractual specifications, and the arrangements between them and beneficiaries whose programmes are broadcast on the channels. The television channels are also opposed to anything that could take advantage of their programmes or their audience by directing viewers to other content and services. They undertake to promote a common technological solution making it possible to associate the use of data broadcast as part of the signal and on-line services. They would also like to see the adoption of a harmonised technical norm for television sets and other connected video equipment, so as to avoid each manufacturer coming up with separate developments. If such a solution were to be implemented, the signatory editors want the industrialists to make every effort to adopt the technology decided on.