From TV Predictions

A trade magazine says adult films account for 40 percent of overall Video on Demand revenue. Cable TV operators often say their subscribers love the variety of programming available on Video on Demand. However, a new report suggests that what they love most is love itself.

Adult Video News, a trade magazine serving the adult film industry, says that porn generates approximately 40% of cable's overall VOD revenue ($800 million of a $2 billion market). The number is particularly impressive because some cable operators have just recently added adult films to the VOD lineup.

In addition, the magazine says that a whopping 55% of people who order VOD in hotel rooms select adult movies.

AVN estimates that the adult industry is raking in more than $12.6 billion a year, with one-third of that revenue coming from video sales and rentals.

The adult industry could get another boost in 2006 when new High-Definition TV DVD players hit the market. Many adult producers have been shooting their films in high-def in anticipation of the growing HD market.

In the new year Atlantic Television will be distributing Blue Juice Television, the first Hardcore Adult Entertainment Internet TV channel in the UK.

Blue Juice UK is the UK's first R18 Hardcore TV channel that for obvious reasons has to be delivered via broadband. Due to current OFCOM rulings it will not be available via Satellite.

At the moment the doors are open for viewers to come and watch a one hour broadcast free of charge

Unlike current ‘unicast’ or ‘Video on Demand’ streaming services that many websites currently offer, Blue Juice is unique in that it offers the viewer an ‘always on’ multicast channel which the subscriber can access.

For £10 a week, 512k (or faster) Broadband users will have uninterrupted access to not just Hardcore Adult films but also live interactive evenings from our studio in Oxford.

With a capacity of TENS OF THOUSANDS OF viewers at any one time, Blue Juice’s subscribers should never experience poor quality broadcasts or have connection issues.

New technology always drives the adult industry first, especially online. This is the start of "the next big thing" for adult entertainment around the globe.

The "FREEVIEW" pilot can be viewed here: BLUE JUICE TELEVISION

From Media Week

A third of homes around the globe with a TV set will have signed up for on-demand services within five years, a new report has predicted. The sudden uptake of video-on-demand and television-on-demand services, such as Sky+ and HomeChoice in the UK, will create around £6.2bn in revenues globally by 2010.

Business thinktank Informa Telecoms & Media said in the fourth edition of its On-Demand TV study, to be published this week, that North America and Europe would between them account for 86% of the revenues.

Simon Dyson, author of the report, said: So much of the content available through VOD is free of charge and many of the more successful operators are looking to expand their free offerings. Although this doesn't generate much in the way of revenues at the moment, it adds value for subscribers and has become a really useful tool for reducing churn.

In Europe the number of subscribers for on-demand TV services is expected to reach around 98 million by 2005, a jump of nearly 60 million on the numbers expected by the end of this year.

But while the increase in household numbers is strong, revenue increases over the same period are dramatic, with Europe seeing a rise of £1.8bn from £743m to £2.6bn. Dyson added: Within a few years subscribers will be migrated to paid content and then significant revenues will be generated.

From Digital Spy

BBC Two will be simulcast via broadband from next year, channel controller Roly Keating has confirmed.

Earlier this year the corporation announced that it would be making one of its main stations available over the internet as part of a drive to increase content availability over new media platforms.

We will start at the website - upgrade that and move it in to broadband, Keating confirmed at Broadcast's commissioning conference in Manchester. We want to have as full a service as possible.

The BBC is also trialling the BBC iMP, an on-demand service that allows viewers to download recently-aired programmes to their home computers.

From Digital Spy

Several primetime shows will be available ad-free and on-demand just hours after they air.

Starting in January, US cable operator Comcast will offer CSI, NCIS, Survivor and The Amazing Race on their VOD service. The shows, which go out as part of CBS's primetime lineup, will be available on the service from around midnight each night for 99 cents. Because new seasons of Survivor and Race debut in March, Survivor: Guatemala and Race: 8 will be available on the service at launch.

This is an incredibly exciting evolution for CBS and network television -- video on demand is the next frontier for our industry, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Comcast in taking this giant, positive leap forward, said CBS chief Les Moonves. We're offering hit programming that is extremely well-suited for this new medium, and we're confident the lure of watching these shows at one's own convenience, will make this feature wildly popular. From its days as one of the first radio broadcasters to its leadership in HDTV, CBS has always been on the cutting edge of broadcasting technology, and this latest.

From MCNB TV

MCNB TV is live internet gay and hetero television for adults. MCNB TV is free to watch, Our Promise to you - Absolutely No gimmicks, No catches, No loopholes, No setup fees, No forced advertising, No popups, No fine prints, No contracts and No hidden charges. Please read first the TV schedule, so you know when to visit the free webcast shows! Go to MCNB TV and Click the TV Schedule button and enjoy.

I wonder if any one is coordinating open access issues or will the set top box tie one into BT selected softcore rubbish when it comes to adult films?

From The Telegraph

A new internet television service that will allow millions of viewers to download films and television programmes over a telephone line was unveiled yesterday.

Users of BT’s video on demand service, due to start next summer, will be able to choose from a library of thousands of films and TV shows.

They will also be able to replay instantly programmes from the previous week’s digital television schedules including EastEnders, Coronation Street and Desperate Housewives.

The new – as yet unnamed – package will be the first to be nationally available without subscription.

Initially the new service will only be offered to BT Broadband customers who will need to buy a set top box, manufactured by Philips. The box connects to their television, telephone line and a roof top aerial. Microsoft will provide the software for the boxes.

Using a standard 2MB broadband telephone connection, owners of the boxes will be able to choose from a library of old films, television shows and music.

Each programme is likely to cost between £1 and £3 to watch and can be paused, rewound or fast forwarded like a conventional video or DVD.

BT will also offer a selection of programmes from the previous week’s broadcast schedules. They are likely to include shows from all the major digital and non-digital channels such as BBC1, ITV1 and Sky 1.

The broadband connections found in most homes are not fast enough to allow live television channels to be received over a telephone line. So the set top box will contain a Freeview digital television receiver, giving owners access to 30 terrestrial digital channels.

The box also comes with a built-in personal video recorder capable of storing up to 80 hours of programmes on its internal disc drive. The set top box, which will start trials in the spring, will also be able to handle the new high definition television signals due to start in the next few years.

BT claims it will be simple to use and will appeal to people who have been reluctant to upgrade to digital. It will allow viewers to take part in on-screen video conferences with friends while watching football matches, or to text each other during soap operas.

BT has yet to confirm the price of the set top box or the cost of downloading video. It is expected to offer a “season ticket” which allows users to download as many videos as they want during a month.

The move will position BT against Sky and other video on demand companies such as HomeChoice. Not all BT customers will be able to use the service. The speed of internet connection varies across its network and not all customers have fast enough connections.

From the BBC

One of the UK's leading terrestrial broadcasters is to throw its hat into the broadband TV ring. ITV will trial a TV service via the internet, which will offer people the chance to create their own schedules and broadcasts.

Local content, including classified advertisements, will be key to the new service. Using high-speed net connections to deliver TV content is capturing the imagination of broadcasters and telcos.

The three-month trial will initially be aimed at viewers in Brighton and Hastings, although ITV plans to extend to other regions if it is deemed a success.

Viewers will be invited to upload their own reports and budding film-makers will be able to showcase their films as part of a drive towards citizen-led TV.

How many times have we heard of politicians who don't believe in censorship BUT...  then impose it with undisguised relish

From DTG

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has pledged the UK Government will pursue a light touch approach to the regulation of television content distributed via broadband internet and mobile networks.

Speaking at a Creative Economy Conference, Jowell said it was clear that new measures would be needed.

But in a clear signal to Brussels, which is reviewing its Television Without Frontiers Directive for the era of multi-network digital distribution, Jowell said: We don't want to use a sledge-hammer to crack a nut, as regulation of these platforms will have an enormous impact on how they develop. Creativity and enterprise can't flourish if they are beset by reams of red tape.

In May, Ofcom senior partner Robin Foster cautioned against more stringent regulation of the internet, amid proposals being considered by the EU to extend its regulatory guidelines for the media to cover online broadcasts

From The Guardian

BT has revealed that its much trumpeted foray into television will start next summer, when it will launch a new set-top box allowing viewers to download programmes over broadband internet lines.

Andrew Burke, chief executive of the company's recently formed BT Entertainment division, confirmed the launch date at the Enhanced TV Show in London and yesterday the company said that plans were "progressing well".

While keen to stress that it does not see itself in competition with the big pay TV groups such as BSkyB and NTL, the launch will bring to fruition the company's long-held aim to expand into television. The box will contain a Freeview tuner but will also use a broadband connection and Microsoft's IPTV technology to deliver video on demand.

Trials are scheduled to begin early next year with a full consumer launch set for July or August. Since Burke was appointed to lead BT Entertainment, he has recruited several experienced television executives including Dan Marks, formerly of Universal Studios Networks UK.

It is envisaged that the box will allow viewers to switch seamlessly between Freeview and video downloads. BT is in negotiations with several broadcasters and Hollywood studios to provide content but also hopes that demand for niche content, including local football matches and regional news, will help to drive uptake.

It believes it will bridge the gap between broadband lines, typically hooked up to a computer, and the main television set in the living room and provide access to services such as MyBBC, the corporation's planned service giving access to any programme from the past seven days. BT will also seek to make incremental revenues from new services such as "voice-over internet" telephone calls integrated with television shows. A spokesman said BT would announce soon which company had won the contract to supply the box but would not comment on its likely cost.

Some industry observers warned that BT's involvement could stunt the growth of the emerging IPTV market. Generally it's a good thing that IPTV will be rolled out nationally after KIT in Hull and HomeChoice in London laid the groundwork. The concern is BT using its power to dominate the market at such an early stage, said Simon Perry, publisher of convergence website Digital-Lifestyles.info.

Typical tabloid bollox. Presumably the films are distributed electronically as per the Internet (or an Intranet) and hence are not covered by the VRA which governs physical media nor by broadcasting considerations.It is perfectly legal to view R18 type material distributed by the Internet so why shouldn't hotels take advantage. Besides that, a hotel room is considered as an extension of ones home rather than a public space, hence one can buy drinks from the night porter outside licensing hours etc.

I wonder when the Daily Mail will pick up on the challenge of legal hardcore distribution to anybody who wants it via the Internet. And just to make it easier for all, the Internet computer can be hidden away in a neat and easy to use set top box.

Based on an article from Hotels

Major hotel chains are showing hardcore pornography, rated R18 on sets in guests' bedrooms.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that this was enabled by a legal loop hole and that pay-per-view sex movies are on offer in luxury hotel groups including Hilton, Intercontinental and De Vere.

Last night the Government announced a belated inquiry into why the hotels should be immune from a rigidly-enforced blanket ban on the broadcast of hardcore films on terrestrial, satellite and cable television channels.

Ironically, the hotel TV porn system the Government is set to investigate is readily available in at least one of the two Hilton hotels being used by the Prime Minister and Cabinet colleagues at this week's Labour Party Conference in Brighton.

The films now on offer in many British hotels would carry the special 'R18' certificate, which is issued by the BBFC, primarily 'for explicit works of consenting sex between adults.' R18 films can only be purchased by over-18s from licensed sex shops or viewed in specially-licensed cinemas where the age of every ticket purchaser can be verified.

The Hilton Group, whose hotels offer the 'adult' channel at Pounds £12.95 per 24 hours, said yesterday it had consulted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport before making the R18 material available.

When The Mail on Sunday first approached the DCMS to ask what it planned to do to shut down the legal loophole, a spokesman said it was ultimately for the hotel chains to decide what television services they provide for their customers but obviously they have to do operate within the parameters of the law.

The hotels showing hardcore porn insist they can put an electronic block on adult TV channels in guest rooms and say there are onscreen warnings that the viewer is about to access explicit material unsuitable for minors.

Last night a spokeswoman for Hilton, which offers the films in 60 of its 70 UK hotels, said: We started to introduce these films in our hotels in April, which was after some of the other major chains. We took advice from leading counsel and the DCMS before we did so and we are satisfied that it is within the law. Our supplier, Acentic, has also assured us that we are not breaking any regulations. There is also no question of children accessing this material.

There are warnings on every stage of the menu process on the pay-TV screen and when families check in to our hotels it is our policy to ask the parents if they want the adult channel blocked. A spokeswoman for De Vere, which has 19 four-star and fivestar hotels in the UK, confirmed they were also showing R18 films. We understand from our suppliers that it has been legal for two years,'she said.

We offer this service because it has become standard throughout the industry and it is a service that our guests demand. At the Intercontinental Group, which has around 300 hotels in the UK, including the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, a spokeswoman confirmed it began showing R18 films in the spring of this year after taking legal advice.

In a second statement issued late yesterday afternoon, the DCMS said: 'The Government takes very seriously extreme pornographic images and the protection of children. We are grateful to The Mail on Sunday for drawing this to our attention. It may be that the present legislation creates a loophole for new technologies to provide pornographic material that was not intended under existing legislation. We are therefore examining with the Home Office what action needs to be taken to ensure that the law as intended is complied with. The DCMS spokesman added that he was not aware whether any of the hotel chains contacted them before installing the film system.

From The Independent

Playboy magazine is not what it was. It has become diluted and over-merchandised until it stands for little more than a parallel version of the worst of hip-hop culture, all bling and no substance.

And so to try and make sense of this: Playboy UK has re-launched itself as a digital multimedia entertainment company with a presence in every portal. The new brand integrates the "full suite" of Playboy products (six Playboy television channels, the newly launched website www.playboy.co.uk) and, of course, the magazine. According to Richard Gale, director of marketing and sales, this collective offering brings the consumer "an array of exclusive lifestyle benefits".

According to the chief executive Jeremy Yates, this re-branding is a reaction to user demand for a single billing point for TV, online and magazine services. At Playboy, they are very excited about "convergence" - that one day we will all have one box to unite all our pornographic needs - but until that time it is enough that they can "deliver content wherever you want it", or, in other words, deliver adult entertainment to your television, your computer, your phone, your PDA or your portable games machine.

And where does the magazine fit into all this? Subscribers to the full digital package (£36pm) receive Playboy magazine as part of the deal - but it seems like an afterthought, a bonus for the viewer, rather than anything the company is focusing on. This seems to be the view shared by the magazine's editorial offices in New York. Yes, the magazine is bundled with Playboy UK as a promotion, but it is just that, a promotion, says a spokeswoman, when I ask to speak to someone from the editorial side. Because of the differing explicitness of content in various territories we would probably not want to comment further on the magazine in relation to this re-branding.

While playing up the men's lifestyle elements in Playboy on-line (for which read boy's toys and gadgets), Yates admits Playboy's central contradiction: that, on the one hand, the hardcore stuff is not branded (so, in addition to the softcore Playboy TV, the stronger broadcast content appears on the internet broadband versions of the Adult Channel & Spice), but, on the other hand, the hardcore stuff is what Playboy feels compelled to provide, to compete with the internet and pay per view, and despite keeping it at arm's length to try and protect the lucrative teen clothing and stationery image, the hardcore streaming is, to use Yates's indelicate phrase, "the meat in the sandwich".

From Lasher_UK on the bgafd forum

I am looking for a British movie site or site with good British content that you can pay monthly for like Adultbouncer or Deluxepass.

Why do so many have these stupid deals involving X amount of pounds gets X amounts of minutes, spend more pounds get extra minutes and a free toy or phone sex ?

For Christs sake what's the matter with say £30 per month download what you like when you like and no bloody DRM movies?

I thought I got there with Relishvod but again a plethera of purchase choice and all the divx movies are non Brit. All the Brit stuff is tied into silly buy minutes again.

The problem with DRM movies is that you can't burn them to dvd. I'm hardly gonna set up the pc in the living room so me and the missus can have some naught fun watching it all on the pc. We'd end up getting tangled in the wires!

I can't see the problem, I understand piracy issues but in the meantime you are all missing out and the yanks are raking it in!

I really like AB and Deluxepass for the way they work it's just I miss the Brit girls. Why can't someone offer this?

Is it too much to ask or are there to many issues to resolve legal copyright etc?

From The Register

The European Commission should be cautious about extending the Television Without Frontiers Directive (TVWF Directive) to cover the provision of online audiovisual content services, according to trade group the E-Business Regulatory Alliance.

The group made its comments in response to a consultation by the European Commission on whether the provision of audiovisual content services – by television broadcast, broadband or 3G – needs a new legal regime.

The Commission believes that telecom providers will soon be able to deliver broadcasting services in a quality equal to traditional TV, while traditional content providers will enter the communications markets. It therefore wants to make sure now that the new regime has better competition and consumer choice together with protection for children and cultural diversity.

Comments on the proposals were invited by 5 September, in time for a forthcoming EU audiovisual content conference to be held in Liverpool later this month.

According to the E-Business Regulatory Alliance, the existing framework governing audiovisual and information society services is working well. It is not convinced that any change is necessary.

“The internet is not a virtual 'Wild West', but is already heavily regulated with several instruments, for example the e-Commerce Directive and the Copyright Directive. Member States also have horizontal laws that can be generally applied to the internet,” says the Alliance.

“Where public policy issues, for example the protection of minors and human dignity, are important to the online environment, national legislation or industry self regulation is already adequate. The online business sector has done much to protect children and minors by introducing, for example, parental/guardian controls and age verification,” it adds.

The Alliance calls on the Commission to conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment – along the lines of the UK’s model – in each business sector likely to be affected by any new regulations.

It is also concerned that simply extending the Directive will not solve the problem, in that businesses are unable to predict what developments will take place, and therefore what laws will be needed in the future. Nor does the Alliance believe that the timescale set for publishing the draft Directive – the end of this year – is workable, especially given the need for proper Regulatory Impact Assessments.

It calls for a light touch in respect of any proposals for regulating the internet, and questions whether the proposals will provide for legal certainty. It calls on the Commission to ensure high levels of subsidiarity and to maintain a strong country of origin approach – so that businesses are not subject to different rules if offering services in different Member States, but merely have to satisfy those in their country of origin.

From The Times

The BBC is launching a cinema-style classification to warn parents of programmes containing sex, violence and strong language. Programmes suitable mostly for adults are to be labelled with the symbol “G” for “guidance”.

Initially the G-certificate will be available only to people viewing on their computers, but audiences using the next generation of televisions should be able to click on the symbol on their screens to be alerted to the adult content. The symbol could eventually replace the traditional 9pm watershed.

The corporation is introducing the system to coincide with the release of most of the output of BBC1, BBC2 and its other networks on the internet. Many of its radio programmes are already available “on demand” in this way for seven days after they have been broadcast.

Because viewers will be able to watch programmes from the previous week’s output whenever they want, children will no longer be protected by the conventional watershed.

Initially only 5,000 viewers taking part in a trial this month of the BBC’s system for downloading programmes — the “integrated media player” — will encounter the G-system. Now, any BBC programme included in the new service will have to be classified as G or non-G.

If downloading television programmes on computer becomes nationally available — the BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson is hoping to win the governors’ approval to launch it next year — the G-symbol will become familiar in almost every household and is likely to be adopted by other broadcasters. We need to give audiences the equivalent of a new watershed, to give them a different signpost,” said Rachel Hermer, the BBC adviser on editorial policy.

Parents will be able to adjust computers so children cannot watch G-rated programmes without permission.

All Amateurs

From www.all-amateursdvd.com

Our site Feature Hardcore Amateur Porn Downloads, full length films in high resolution near DVD quality format.

Basically what we offer is just a little bit different, we are a British outfit producing genuine amateur hardcore featuring British participants, I hesitate to use the word model since none of the people featured in our films would fit that category. They are regular everyday folks and since our appearance fees barely cover expenses it is fair to say anyone watching these films can be assured the participants are doing it for kicks. I guess you would get a much better sense of this if you were to visit the web site.

We have a number of DVD's R18 rated in the adult shops, We decided not to sell DVD's online. Recently we started embarking on a program of offering our own films, and some of those that we distribute to the trade for purchase via download on the net. We have set up a dedicated server for this and all the work conversions of films web site etc is all done in house we are totally self sufficient in that respect.

A point of interest maybe to note for you is that a few people who approached us to buy via mail order which for legal reasons we won't do were converted, to buying downloads online after recommendation from us.

Our overriding attitude regarding online sales of downloadable movies is to give the best value for money possible, we want happy customers to come back to us.

We use the DivX format and unlike our DVD's of the same title The DivX footage is usually completely unedited which means a lot longer, Ok that means some shaky camera work and long lead ups sometimes but on the plus side the viewer does get a real sense that this is something real a tangible (Reality Sex) not staged or directed, which of course it isn't.

We also put footage on our download movies where applicable that is or would be rejected by the BBFC, I mean you know something's anally retentive when they have a rule that says fingering past the third knuckle is classed as fisting and banned doesn't seem to matter that it might only be 2 fingers.

Whilst our output isn't going to appeal everyone there is definitely a market for this reality sex stuff featuring ordinary folks, Our DVD's are selling very well in the sex shops.

As a business we are hoping to attract other amateur producers to come on board for DVD Distribution and DivX Downloads.

Finally regarding a sales model for the downloads, we decided straight off that its a download and keep thing, bugger streaming it's frustrating for folks anyway our films are too high spec quality to make streaming viable, and rental nah we will keep the buy and keep forever at a fair price thing. Some companies charge for rental what we sell outright for.

Oh perhaps good to mention that we are also going to add a goodly number of single scenes for download and keep later this month give folks a better choice perhaps.

  Suggested by a Melon Farmer Dude

From band3 on The Melon Farmers' Forum

I subscribed to www.moviedude.com (run by reputable company movieflix.com) and at current exchange rates for only £5.69 / month I can stream VOD from a selection of 100s of DVDs @ 225kb stream in RealPlayer (Good) or Windows Media (not so good).

Gotta admit.. it`s cheap!

  Bulldog Broadband

From DTG

Cable & Wireless' high-speed broadband internet unit, Bulldog Communications, is reportedly set to launch a video-on-demand service. Bulldog is one of the pioneers of local loop unbundling, the process by which broadband providers install their own technology at BT telephone exchanges, thus creating their own access network.

Cable & Wireless acquired Bulldog in May 2004 for £18.6m. In April this year its founding CEO Richard Greco was replaced by Emanuele Angelidis, a former chief operating officer of Italy's Fastweb, the broadband internet provider that offers consumers a bundled triple-play of video services, telephony and high-speed internet.

Bulldog is not commenting on the reports, but a further hint that Bulldog is planning to launch a video-on-demand service is the recent appointment of Elaine Safier its head of entertainment. Safier was previously strategy director at AOL Europe.

Meanwhile, Kingston Communications' broadband ISP, Eclipse Internet, has announced it is to trial a national platform for digital television, telephony and broadband. Eclipse is working with set-top box maker Netgem to create a triple-play service allowing subscribers to use Netgem's iPlayer+ box with a 2 Mbps broadband connection.

The box combines that broadband connection with a Freeview tuner, also offering the mini-pay-TV service Top Up TV.

Some interesting points, I do not see IPTV as Utopia as I tend to be a collector and like to own DVDs complete with covers and a belief that I can watch them again any time in the next few years. Maybe porn can be an exception as far too little is of sufficient quality to worry about watching again.

From UK adult producer Phil McCavity

DVD sales have been dive bombing over the last 12-18 months and there is less profit margin in the production and distribution of them due to the pirates that are rife in the industry. All the biggest movie distributors, Warner Bros, MGM, Disney etc are all going down the IPTV route and it is expected that all movies in the future will be streamed for a global audience on the same day with no delays to all regions. This will undoubtedly close the black hole currently draining the DVD industry of some $80 million a month either spent on fighting piracy or lost revenue to piracy.

In an attempt to fight piracy Gladiator was used as a test. Eight thousand prints of the movie were made at a cost of $40M and distributed via Cannes etc and it was the biggest loss ever to piracy even being pirated before it reached the first screening cinemas.

This is why IPTV is going to be the only solution to combating DVD piracy. On a given time and date the AVI stored in a server and secured with Digital Rights Management is transmitted globally to Cinemas, then a few weeks later the server will be opened up to the end user in the home to stream to either PC or set top box. This will mean the DVD distributors of today are becoming the online streaming distributors for the IPTV age and it's happening right now.

As an example take Harry Potter 4. People will be able to see the making of the movie long before it even becomes a product. It will generate revenue streams before the movie is even a production and captivate the audience and media interest ready for the launch day. At the time of launch a button will be pressed in a data centre storing the master AVI file and instantaneously enable cinemas all around the world to have a premier of the movie on the same night. The glitz and glamour of the premiers we see today won't have to be in one cinema in the country or region but in every cinema around the globe capable of receiving the signal through fibre lines.

The home consumer will receive the same treat as the cinemas only a few days or a few weeks later when a reduced stream is enabled and controlled under DRM license as an on-demand movie. There will be no DVD availability, no download and therefore DVD pirate copies for sale at the car boot on a Sunday for £5. Instead the consumer can pay £2.50, £4 or whatever the cost is set at to stream it over the phone line and be allowed a set number of plays for the price.

No DVD and cheaper to watch than a PIRATE at Hi-Def quality if you like,

Its here......Consumers, Punters, friends and gentlemen get prepared coz its coming your way, www.gdbtv.co.uk

  IPTV capable broadband set to reach millions by 2006

From Ofwatch

NTL are planning to roll out 10Mb broadband to all of their 1.5 million customers by the end of 2006 at no additional cost to subscribers. Instead of pricing by broadband speed, prices will in future be based on data throughput (usage). Existing 3Mb users usage limit will be increased from 30Gb to 75Gb per month and they will be upgraded first. The usage limit for other bands have yet to be announced. 10Mb is plenty fast enough for full broadcast quality television.

Television Without Frontiers

Ofwatch has responded to the European public consultation over updating the Television without Frontiers Directive. As IPTV services are likely to be included within the scope of the revised directive, the TVWF directive will become an important regulatory issue for adult service consumers. Although it is unlikely that it will be possible to prohibit Internet based television services it is possible that UK suppliers of R18 content on such services could be handicapped by inappropriate regulation. It is therefore important that adult service consumers make their views known to the commission.

Details of the consultation can be found here: http://europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/revision-tvwf2005/consult_en.htm

The key paper is the first one rules applicable to audiovisual content services. Responses must be in by 5th September.

  Expensive VCDs for Download

From The Register

A UK firm has started a video download service in the hopes of creating a viable commercial alternative to renting or buying DVDs. The service - BoxOffice365.com - which allows customers to download videos of VHS quality was launched in a trial version last week. So far only a handful of live comedy and music video services are available but the British Internet Broadcasting Company (BiBC), the firm behind the service, promises a significant content catalogue will be uploaded by the end of September.

Some of the content, such as The Sex Pistols' TV debut of Anarchy in the UK will be made available for purchase for the first time. The firm has signed publishing agreements with a number of publishers including V2, ITN, Laughing Stock. But only one film studio (Universal) has thus far signed an agreement. BiBC's founder, Paul Hague, admitted Hollywood has been reticent about offering legal downloads of films even though content is wrapped in copy protection technology to prevent unauthorised sharing.

Downloads are available on a "pay-as-you-go" basis with prices of between £1.50 for a music video, and £6.99 and upwards for a full DVD. That's more expensive than renting a DVD but BiBC hopes the convenience of not having to go to the shops will appeal to its potential customers. A trial allowed us to download Bob Marley, The Legend Live. As advertised it took 45 mins to download and the 500MB WMV file offered VHS-quality footage of the Reggae legend in his prime. The site was easy to use with IE but doesn't yet work on Firefox or on Macs. BoxOffice365.com techies are working on making the service - essentially still in beta - work with Firefox.com. The service offers downloads - not streaming media - so once punters download content they can view it offline as often as they like providing they don't try to do anything more than transfer content to one portable video device.

BoxOffice365.com wants to do for video downloads what iTunes did for legal music downloads.

From  The Melon Farmers' Forum

Philim77

Playboy.co.uk Has anyone else had any problems in getting signed up to this service? I used to be registered with Playboytvonline.co.uk (excellent service) but upgraded my package over a week ago to Playboy.co.uk. Ever since then I have been unable to use this service despite numerous e-mails asking for help and passed deadlines promising it will be sorted......

Crowman

I have had exactly the same problem. They supplied a temporary logon id and password and told me I would receive my permanent details within 14 days. However, the temporary id and password was disbled before I received my new ones. I am, once again, chasing them for access. Needless to say, their billing department is super efficient.

  Free Hardcore vs Paid For Softcore

From Band3 on The Melon Farmers' Forum

It`s quite funny... There I have TVX playing on the TV - showing absolutely NOTHING worth watching... and on my PC I am streaming www.adultinternet.tv (crappy 100k stream) but free - and I am watching a program called London shaggers... and recognise many of the British cast. So basically I am watching an American company showing British hardcore for free while a British company is charging me £9.99/month to watch softcore crap....

  Television without Frontiers but with Frontiers

By Paul Taverner of Ofwatch at Westminster Media Forum's TVWF consultation seminar: The View from UK Stakeholders
held on the 20th July.

A more complete article is available on Ofwatch

I was fortunate enough to attended a Westminster Media Forum seminar concerning the revision of the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF) directive last Wednesday (20th July). The TVWF directive is of great importance to adult service consumers as it lays down the basic regulation required for television services across Europe. It is of particular interest right now as the European Commission have announced their intention to expand this directive to include many web based services.

There is still a great deal of work to be done before the new version of the directive is anywhere near ready, but the basic thrust is clear. Television and Internet technologies are converging and what we need (so we are told) is more regulation that includes Internet services. Regulation will continue for traditional broadcast services in much the same way as it does now, but will be extended to include IPTV, streamed content and near Video On Demand under the heading of linear services. In addition a new tier of regulation will be created introducing basic regulation with fewer restrictions for non-linear services (where the consumer decides the schedule) such as full VOD services and similar.

The subject of the seminar was the five discussion papers that were released on the 11th July to prompt debate over draft proposals. These draft proposals were a very mixed bag.

Some of the suggestions were highly controversial such as extending the existing broadcasting right of reply to web based services. Perhaps not a serious issue from an adult service perspective, but that one will run and run nevertheless. Expect to see it in the papers when the time comes in the coming months and years ahead.

Some of the suggestions were totally ill conceived and even the rather conservative Chris Bone from the DCMS was heard to mutter that “some of these proposals loose touch with reality” when faced with suggestions that foreign web sites might choose to register in one country or another to avoid being regulated by all nations separately.

There was great support for the idea that trans frontier communications should remain unrestricted, indeed this is such a fundamental point that the directive is named after it (i.e. Television Without Frontiers). There was also support for the idea of continuing to allow nation states their national margin of appreciation when interpreting the TVWF principles over what content was acceptable and where lines should be drawn in their territory, but there wasn’t any real idea of what would happen when you mixed these two principles together in a fully IPTV enabled world, or any appreciation that they are in fact mutually exclusive.

If trans frontier communications are to remain truly open and free and if any person in any country can watch any content from anywhere, what is the point in a national margin of appreciation? But if every nation needs to enforce its own national margin, then it will be necessary to ring fence each nation with barriers to ensure that content that falls outside the national margin is kept out. Hardly in keeping with open communications and probably entirely impractical as well.

Of course this problem is already with us today, but has been limited for various technological, financial, geographical and political reasons. Whilst Transgression of one national margin into another does occur (e.g. Euro adult services such as Satisfaction TV), it is limited in scope and within politically manageable proportions. But IPTV will bring this issue into sharp focus by removing the technological, financial and geographical obstacles.

The massive force of technological progress pushing towards open trans frontier communications would seem to be unstoppable and yet national Governments resolve to maintain control at all costs would appear to be immovable. So there is guaranteed to be tears before bedtime on this issue not to mention a serious risk of creating a number of white elephant regulations  for political purposes in the process.

The real problem was highlighted by one of the other speakers at the seminar who said “legislators and regulators are trying to regulate in a world that they don’t understand”.

So there is no answer to this conflict at the moment, but there is certainly the need for us to get involved in the European consultation on these matters. More of that later. 

Specific questions posed by Ofwatch

Paul Tavener: I would like to ask what is going to happen when the national margin of appreciation meets the future reality of Internet Protocol TV. In a world where citizens from any nation can access any television service from any other nation what place is left for the national margin of appreciation over what is acceptable to broadcast? And on that note I would also like to ask him what happened to the request for a proscription order for Satisfaction Television that the ITC requested almost five years ago? Is the minister still considering the matter?

Chris Bone:OK I'll answer the second question first. Um ya we, er, still have that under consideration. You may or may not know that there was actually a proscription order posted earlier this year against another television service which has since gone off the air; nice to know. And we're still considering in the light of that and various other legal considerations what can or can not be done about Satisfaction so there we are.

As regards the first question I think this is perhaps where I say ask the commission what they think, because there is clearly a major issue about this. If there is not, and undoubtedly there never will be in our lifetimes, world wide sort of international control of what's available on the web then people are going to be able to get what they want through the web. There's only so much that nation states and EU commissioners can do. There are co-regulatory and self regulatory solutions, we have found, for example through the work of the Internet Watch Foundation over the last few years that the amount of unacceptable child pornography coming out of the UK has diminished very markedly. That doesn't stop it being available unfortunately if people want to see it, but it's not coming from the UK anymore and it does show that solutions which involve the operators themselves getting together with Governments and regulators and trawling there own content on a notice and take down basis, these solutions, do work and that's all I can say about that.

Paul Tavener: What is going to happen to the national margin of appreciation in the future when we have Internet Protocol TV and where citizens from any nation can access any television service from any other nation?

Tim Suter of Ofcom: Well to the extent that services are regulated by virtue of a licence, they are regulated by virtue of a licence that is handled through Ofcom and it's codes and where that regulation doesn't run to unlicensed services, such as services delivered over the Internet, they are not licensed in the same way.

Paul Tavener: The question really was why are we having a big debate about what the regulation is in this country when really the debate needs to be in Europe. It's a Europe based issue. If we can access content from anywhere then what is the point in having specific UK regulation if we can access French services, Polish services, whatever services?

Tim Suter Well I think there is a principle of regulation that has been fully reflected in the recent comments about the country of origin principle. A lot of content regulation is culturally specific and that is part of the point of it and we need to recognise that and therefore there is a sense that there is a basic set of rules that can be adapted within certain frameworks by content regulators in member states. The subsidiarity principle is terribly important. I don't think the fact that something is necessarily available somewhere else or not available somewhere else should be the determining factor for what we as a society decide we want to have.

The tentative proposals

Chris Bone (head of International broadcasting at the Department of Culture Media and Sport) gave us an outline of the initial thinking:

Existing regulations covering traditional broadcast television should be extended to include new Internet based services such as IPTV and VOD. There should be two tiers of regulation with 'linear' services covering existing television, IPTV and near VOD where the broadcaster decides the schedule and where the rules will be “detailed” (in other words strict), and “non-linear” services for VOD and similar services where the viewer decides the schedule and where the rules will be “basic” (in other words less strict). All Regulations should be technologically neutral meaning that the same rules apply regardless of the means of transmission. Rules for the basic tier of regulation should include: 

• Protection of minors and human dignity

• Identification of commercial communications

• Minimum qualitative obligations regarding commercial communication

• Right of reply

• Basic identification / masthead requirements.

The right of reply requirement will be hugely controversial and may not make it into the final directive, but as far as protection of minors and human dignity were concerned there was less controversy and this is what the focus groups had to say:

“The implementation of the TVWF Directive in the Member States shows that there are no European standards of public decency which would allow the terms “pornography” or “gratuitous violence” to be defined at European level. It therefore should to be left to the Member States to define these notions. Although the level of protection should be similar notwithstanding the linear or non linear character of the service, the means employed to protect minors and human dignity would vary according to the characteristics of the service.”

One key point made was that the country of origin principle should be retained. The country of origin principle means that any services must be regulated by one country and only one country. Despite this there was still some pressure to water down the existing principle allowing exceptions in cases where broadcasters have been established in another country with the sole intention of circumventing the target countries rules (e.g. Red Hot Dutch etc) and new powers to restrict retransmission within a target country in some circumstances. 

Timetable

• 11th July: Issue papers released for discussion
• 5th September: Closing date for comments from the public
• 20th-22nd September: Major conference in Liverpool discussing TVWF issues
• Late 2005: draft directive white paper
• 2006/7 council of ministers and European Parliament start to process the draft directive
• mid/late 2007 New audio-visual content directive
• 2010 incorporated into UK law 

All of the discussion papers are available for those who wish to read more. Westminster media forum will make electronic copies of the seminar discussions available in a months time.

The next big event will be an EU conference in Liverpool where more than 500 regulators, legislators and experts from the broadcasting industry from across Europe will meet to discuss the new directive. It will assist the European Commission in developing its proposals for the revision of the directive. I was given the opportunity to create a 600 word article that will be included as part of the information pack that will be given to all 500 delegates at the Liverpool conference. Hopefully at least some of them will read it. 

Sounds technically bollox, I am in Thailand at the moment and am paying for a TV licence in the UK. I bet their implementation doesn't recognise this situation and treats me as a foreigner. I am getting well pissed off at US software companies charging me UK VAT when  I am in Thailand. They seem to go by the credit card address rather than the delivery address (which of course is arbitrary for a download).

From The Guardian

The BBC is to sell its programmes to overseas viewers over the internet and may also take advertising on its website for the first time under plans to boost its commercial revenues. The director of new media and technology, Ashley Highfield, confirmed that plans to bring in extra money by selling downloads of popular programmes such as Doctor Who, Little Britain and the Blue Planet over the internet were "coming up the agenda".

It's something we've been mandated to do by our charter. It's now become possible because we have internet rights that we could charge for, and we now have the technology, he said. New technology makes it possible for the BBC, which operates the UK's most popular website, to identify exactly where its internet users are coming from. During the Athens Olympics last year, when the BBC provided hundreds of hours of live coverage to broadband internet users, it successfully tested software allowing it to restrict transmission to UK licence fee payers.

Highfield said that in the future the "flip side" was that the BBC could also acquire the international internet rights to big events and charge overseas users to watch them. Any such move would have to be handled through the corporation's BBC Worldwide commercial subsidiary.

The BBC has previously investigated advertising to overseas users of its website, but concluded that the technology was too unreliable. Now, it is prepared to re-examine the idea. While it is unlikely that straightforward online news coverage would be accompanied by advertising, other elements of the BBC.co.uk site could be accompanied by ads if viewed from abroad. Highfield said the BBC already accepted advertising on its overseas TV channels and the principle was the same.

As the BBC invests an ever increasing amount in its online strategy, the director general, Mark Thompson, is looking at ways to offset the distribution costs. According to the BBC's annual report, 22.8 million of the website's 48.1 million average monthly users were overseas. It spent £69.2m on BBC.co.uk, a figure expected to continue rising as the number of broadband users around the world consuming audio visual content increases.

Later this year the BBC will stage a large scale public trial of its interactive Media Player (iMP) technology, aimed at providing UK licence fee payers with the means to download any programme or radio show from the previous week. It is also developing a parallel project known as the Creative Archive, which aims to provide a library of classic programmes for personal use.

For the iMP trial we're having conversations with Worldwide and other commercial providers to see what a commercial version of iMP would look like, said Highfield. The iMP "console" could be available through a number of partner sites.

Under such a system, overseas users would be charged a one-off fee or a subscription to download programmes to their computer or television over a broadband connection.

By making its iMP player one of the standard ways of viewing its programmes, the BBC could retain control of their distribution and ensure its content was well promoted. There could also be a separate charging structure for viewing so-called "streamed" content.

A commercial version of iMP is one model, but we might also look at partnering with Google, for example. If we're making all this investment to make audio visual content available free of charge in the UK, if we could make some money back internationally it could help mitigate some of those costs, said Highfield.

From The Guardian

Japan's biggest broadcaster, Nippon Television Network, is to begin distributing TV programmes via the internet. NTV is aiming for its new online TV business, due to launch in October, to sell £52m-worth of programmes within three years and plans to attract 10,000 members within a year.

The broadcaster will offer more than 10,000 programmes from its portfolio of drama, entertainment and documentary shows on a members-only site with a flat fee of 50p a programme.

NTV - whose network includes 30 affiliate stations - refused to comment on its online plans.

Despite growth in Japan's advertising market, the world's second biggest, the top three TV broadcasters posted weaker profits in the last business year and projected further falls due to the costs of developing new content and lower revenues from its mainline broadcasting business. Some of Japan's TV companies have tried to reduce their reliance on advertising revenue in recent years as the emergence of Sky+ style digital video recorders, which allow viewers to skip commercials, have clouded the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

From CNET News

Amazon.com has purchased a DVD-on-demand site in an effort to broaden its portfolio of digital media services.

Amazon purchased CustomFlix last week, a Santa Cruz, California based company that produces and sells independently produced DVDs

Amazon considers this an additional way of offering customers a wider array of titles, of more niche titles, than it already does, company spokeswoman Patty Smith said. We're always trying to help customers find what they're looking for online.

The CustomFlix buy also follows industry speculation that Amazon would be expanding its DVD operations, though those predictions have centered around the rental side of the business.

It sounds like one to avoid as the tag XX rated means that it is censored hardcore with all anal and cumshots excised.

From AVN

Deep Star Broadcasting Systems, Inc. took a major step forward with today’s announcement of the launch of its first adult video-on-demand service, Heat On Demand.

Through the initial launch, which took place last Thursday, July 7, Heat On Demand is now being introduced to 2,000,000 VOD homes in the United States

Heat On Demand features talent such as Michael Ninn, Simon Wolf, Suze Randall, Private Media Group and Illicit Pictures.

John Chambliss, president of Deep Star touched on an important revenue sharing program that ensures Heat On Demand a position of dominance in attracting filmmakers. This is a distinct advantage we will continue to enjoy because of our willingness to share revenues with our content providers, representing financial rewards offered by no other adult aggregator.

Bill Furrelle, senior VP of affiliate sales for Deep Star, announced that in August, the broadcasting company will next launch a new XX rated Spanish language, VOD service, Caliente En Demanda. Combined with our cutting edge Heat on Demand, I think we now have all of the bases covered as we embark on a journey of satisfying an insatiable audience whose thirst for adult entertainment continues to show no end.

From The Times

Europe wants to begin to regulate the internet for the first time by introducing controversial rules to cover television online.

Brussels is considering regulating areas such as taste and decency, accuracy and impartiality for internet broadcasters. More broadly, it is thinking about relaxing rules governing the frequency and amount of advertising on television.

The proposals are expected to prompt an immediate battle because Ofcom, the media regulator, believes that traditionally strict broadcast regulations should not be extended to the internet.

Viviane Reding, the European Information Commissioner, will set out the idea today as part of the biggest revision of European television regulation since 1989.

She will unveil five “issues papers”, one of which will discuss the impact of technological change since then, and conclude that “non-linear audio-visual content”, television downloads, needs to be subject to regulation.

Some of the changes mooted, such as the extension of rules governing the protection of children, are unlikely to be controversial, but others, such as the need for internet broadcasters to provide a statutory right of reply, are likely to provoke fierce debate.

Tim Suter, Ofcom’s partner for content and standards, said: Whatever happens, it is not appropriate to take the set of rules that apply to television and apply them to other media. Where possible, we should be looking at self-regulation or co-regulation, because that is something that can deliver the goods.

The idea is that any website trying to make money from broadcasting television, perhaps by providing video clips in addition to text, could be brought into the net. However, Commission officials say that the rules for websites will be less strict than those currently applying to the BBC.

Today, television delivered via the internet is unregulated in Britain. There is, therefore, nobody with legal power to force an internet broadcaster to respect rules governing accuracy and impartiality or taste and decency that apply to all other analogue and digital broadcasters.

Home Choice, the leading internet television broadcaster, has formed its own self-regulatory body, which mirrors most of the existing rules. Ofcom believes that this approach is sufficient for responsible broadcasters, while any others are likely to operate offshore from jurisdictions beyond the European Union’s reach.

The new rules will come out of a rewrite of Television Without Frontiers, the 1989 European directive that set the benchmark for television regulation.

Although the issues papers to be published tomorrow will not contain firm conclusions, broadcasters will have until September 5 to respond in writing. A draft directive will be produced at the end of this year.

As well as covering internet regulation, the consultation documents will signal a liberalising of the prescriptive regulations covering the amount of advertising that a TV channel can sho, an existing limit of 12 minutes an hour, is likely to be scrapped.