europe

News Round-Up

March 25, 2010
--Brightcove Powering Broadband Video for New Sports Social Media Site, Sportpost
--FTC Seeking Input on Whether COPPA Should Be Updated to Reflect Interactive TV, Other New Tech
--Harmonic Secures VOD and Web/Mobile TV Deals in China and Switzerland
--Hulu Sued by Hulavision
--LG Electronics Demo'ing Mobile Phones with Broadcast DTV Reception
--Twitter-Based Interactive TV Show Launched in Spain
--Widevine and Verimatrix Settle Patent Dispute
Here is a round-up of some other recent interactive TV-related stories that we didn't have room for in this issue: Brightcove has announced that Sportpost , a newly launched social media site for European sports fans, is using its platform to power its broadband video offerings. According to the company, the video will be ad-supported and will include "high-def exclusives from Nike Football, Red Bull, Monster Energy, UFC, Laureus Sports and World Sport TV." Sportpost...

ActiveVideo Networks to Acquire Avinity Systems

May 26, 2009
--Companies Say They Have Similar Interactive TV Philosophies, Complementary Technologies
At the ANGA Cable show in Cologne, Tuesday, ActiveVideo Networks (formerly ICTV)--a San Jose, Calif.-based interactive television company which offers a platform that it bills as intelligently streaming both traditional and Web-based content to digital set-top boxes and Web-connected CE devices and as combining the personalized, dynamic, socially connected experience of the Web with the quality, immediacy and remote-control navigation that end-users expect from television--announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Avinity Systems...

AFDESI Expands its Scope to the UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany

May 03, 2008
AFDESI, which was launched in 2000 as a professional body for the
French interactive TV industry, is expanding its scope to additionally
represent the ITV industries of the UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and
Germany. While the organization will continue to be called AFDESI
(which originally stood for the Association of French Developers and
Editors of Interactive Services), that acronym will now stand for the
Association for the Development of Enhanced TV Services and
Interactivity. AFDESI says that the goal of the expansion of its
mandate is to "create a strong, independent professional association in
each territory that can act together, collaboratively when necessary, to

Ofcom Moves to Tighten Regulation of Participation TV

April 30, 2008
Following the UK's recent participation TV scandal, that country's
broadcast regulator, Ofcom, has proposed new rules to tighten
regulation of TV and radio programs that rely heavily on premium-rate
telephone services (PRS). The body says that its proposed changes to
the UK's Broadcasting Code will "ensure that programs that invite
viewers and listeners to interact or participate are not vehicles for
promoting commercial,...