We mentioned about this two days ago, and now the European Film Online Charter, developed by European Commission and film and content industry,ISPs and of telecom operators from the EU and the U.S. jointly, has been adopted, so to speak. In essence, the agreement identifies the “preconditions for enabling content and infrastructure providers to make film online services a commercial success”. Among the companies involved are BBC, EMI Music, France Telecom Group, Time Warner, and Vivendi, among others
Among some of the things agreed upon:
-- the availability of films online on a fair, economically sound basis, combined with the recognition that this availability is related to the possibility of financing the high costs of their production,
-- the recognition of opportunities that would be offered by Europe-wide or multi-territory licences and clearances
-- the commitment of online service providers to refrain from knowingly showing advertisements from entities engaged in, or intentionally inducing, piracy
-- the recognition of peer-to-peer technology as positive development for the legitimate online distribution of properly secured content.
Who knows, it could all be baloney...in any case, the full agreement is here.