Irish government to redefine the television?
– posted January 12th, 2007 by Laurence Veale
On Wednesday , January 11th, the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources met to discuss the Proposed Broadcasting Bill 2007. Part of the discussion centred around part 6 of the proposed bill and what constitutes a television. No longer the "box in the corner", a new definition could encompass any kind of device.
"television set" means any electronic apparatus capable of receiving and exhibiting television broadcasts broadcast for general reception (whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction therewith) and any software or assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus.
Oireachtais committee webcast
I tuned into the Oireachtais webcast on the Hearings to see what was being said. As an exercise in irony, I hooked my laptop up to my TV to watch it in wide screen and surround sound.
iPhone features in discussion of Proposed Broadcasting Bill 2007!
An interesting part of the discussion centred on whether the definition of a TV should extend to laptops, mobile phones, Blackberries and even the iPhone and as such should they be licensible under the proposed bill.
Even the recently announced but not yet available iPhone made a cameo appearance when it was mentioned on more than one occasion by committee chairman, Noel O'Flynn, TD
Currently, TV licensing applies to a household rather than a single device and according to the CSO, 99% of Irish households have a traditional "box in the corner" so one suggestion put forward was that any additional devices could fall under the existing household licence, should these new devices be "redefined" as televisions.
However, I don't really expect mobile devices to fall under the new Bill. What the committee is doing is just bringing them up for discussion and some healthy debate. To do otherwise and to simply dismiss them would be remiss of the committee.
Vive la difference!
An interesting point made by the TV3 representative was that in France Dominique de Villepin prevented the introduction of a similar measure as it would have "a chilling effect" on the development of the hi-tech industry.
Effectively, it would be a tax on technology and would have huge implications on the technology sector, particularly for a country that seeks to place itself in the driving seat of the knowledge economy.
Infamous "Hands of BOD" featured during Oireachtais committee discussion.
Not to be outdone by Noel O'Flynn's mention of the iPhone, Eamon Ryan, Green Party TD, admitted he was an avid YouTuber, having recently tuned into the infamous Hands of BOD rugby clip, which I've embedded below (any excuse). It's interesting to see that this now has been viewed over 20,000 times, not an insignificant number. It goes to show that YouTube is a real threat to traditional television broadcasting.
A question worth posing to Eamon Ryan is why is he not yet vodcasting from YouTube? Particulary when Brody Sweeney (FG), Frances Fitzgerald (FG), Thomas Byrne (FF), Dominic Hanagan (Lab) are already up there.
Eamon, if you're reading, we'd be delighted to give you a hand!
Read more elsewhere...
- TV licence may have to change, Committee told
- TV License To Cover Internet In Ireland
- Focus area: Definition of a television
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Categories: Technology and Spotted
