Mobile firms alerted to new EU rules

by Andrew McCormick, Media Week 05-Dec-07, 16:00

LONDON - The Mobile Entertainment Forum has kicked off a drive to educate the mobile industry on how new European Union legislation will affect firms in the sector.

The trade body believes the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive will enable mobile companies to better exploit opportunities across different member countries.

The directive will replace the TV Without Frontiers framework which currently governs Europe’s audiovisual industry. For the first time, online and "TV-like" services will face some of the same rules as TV services. For example, video-on-demand services will face tougher rules, such as the labelling of content.

The Mobile Entertainment Forum has created a guide with law firm Denton Wilde Sapte to explain what the legislation means for its members and other mobile firms.

The new legislation will come into force at the end of 2007 and EU member countries have an obligation to implement new rules within two years.