Ofcom has overruled its appointed VOD regulator in deciding that chunks of high Gear and BBC Food channel programmes found on YouTube do not represent TV-like services and so fall outside regulation.
ATVOD, Ofcom-appointed regulator of uk video-on-demand, decided that clips circulated by BBC Worldwide represent TV content and so constitute its regulatory remit. BBC Worldwide contended they're promotional and so it had no ought to register with ATVOD (and pay the requisite fee) so each parties toddled along to Ofcom, that has decided that programmes without credits are not programmes all.
Ofcom is arbiter to the progressively tortuous method of deciding what gets regulated, having appointed ATVOD (a personal company) to affect video-on-demand role as it tries to cope with the increasing fragmentation of tv and the regulatory surroundings among that it exists.
It's easy to see that BBC iPlayer falls below ATVOD's remit, as does PlayBoy's video-on-demand service - that last week copped associate ATVOD fine of £100,000 for failing to envision the age of viewers properly.
Broadcast channels like BBC1 clearly constitute Ofcom, but things get a lot of hazy once the internet gets involved - for instance, Sports Tonight (Freeview 227) is delivered by information processing, but it's a schedule, so it falls below Ofcom, while The space (Freeview 232) lets viewers decide the show, so it falls below ATVOD.
ATVOD charges for registration, £10,000 for firms price over £26m, and registration is obligatory therefore the decision about that services fall among its remit area unit far from educational.
BBC Worldwide uses YouTube to distribute content together with segments from high Gear and BBC Food programmes. Given the length of the clips (seven to eight minutes) ATVOD decided these were TV shows and so registration was required. BBC Worldwide disagreed, tilt that high Gear without the 'tween-segment prattling of Clarkson and his minions couldn't be considered a TV program at all, so it needn't register.
Ofcom sided with BBC Worldwide, citing the shortage of credits as another defining think about the highest shell, that hinged on whether the YouTube clips could be considered "programmes".
The promotional nature of the content wasn't relevant, as borne out by another appeal from Greystone Media, that argued it had been making a gift of episodes from its Business Channel as promotions and so did not ought to register with ATVOD - a read with that Ofcom disagreed as it’s the content that matters, not what's charged for it.
But each cases area unit symptomatic of the difficulties in controlling media in an internet age. we have a tendency to (almost) all agree that some level of regulation is required to regulate content, ensuring the protection of youngsters and editorial independence, but the practicalities of doing that area unit still a work current.
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