Rethinking regulatory approaches
Jaroslaw Sellin, a newly appointed member of the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV), has gone a step further, much to our delight. He wants to put not only himself out of a job, but also his eight fellow KRRiTV council members. (See Interview, page S7) Sellin quite wisely realizes the council as currently organized is going to become an anachronism, if it hasn't already. Set up to deal with licensing and regulation of television and radio broadcasting, the KRRiTV has been caught flat-footed when it's come to entertainment/information market changes.
As perfect example has been the fight between Canal+ Polska and originally HBO, but now also Wizja TV, over delocated broadcasting. Canal+ has been hopping mad over the fact that it received a Polish broadcasting license, which meant that over the years it has had to abide by investment and programming restrictions. But HBO and Wizja, which broadcast in Poland, do not have to have a similar license because they beam their signal into the country from abroad.
The KRRiTV has refused to rule on the question, leaving the case to move through the Polish court system. (For those who have been spared the horror of the judicial system, court cases move slower than a snail on valium.) The KRRiTV has seemingly taken the position that the case is not in its jurisdiction, which seems strange since the media law and television broadcasting are what it's all about.
Most likely, though, the council has sidestepped it because it is far behind the technological curve and doesn't know how to react to the changes that are gripping the communications industries. That is why Sellin's proposal makes so much sense. He suggests disbanding the council and creating a new regulatory body that would be a watchdog for broadcasting and telecom issues. Such a body would likely be similar to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.
The danger even with this proposal is that the government will believe it can manage the information technology-communication-entertainment market. That has been one downfall of the current council. Delocated broadcasting has shown the difficulty in that. However, the council and government still cling to outmoded laws. Now just wait till web-based television, not to mention streaming video already available, create thousands of unlicensed Polish channels. Such an understanding also needs to take place in relation to broadcasting. Any regulatory council must try at best to ride this coming technological wave. If correctly constituted such a council as Sellin proposes may be able to do so. If the current council and government think they can control or block the wave, they will find themselves quickly swept away to the shores of irrelevancy.
As perfect example has been the fight between Canal+ Polska and originally HBO, but now also Wizja TV, over delocated broadcasting. Canal+ has been hopping mad over the fact that it received a Polish broadcasting license, which meant that over the years it has had to abide by investment and programming restrictions. But HBO and Wizja, which broadcast in Poland, do not have to have a similar license because they beam their signal into the country from abroad.
The KRRiTV has refused to rule on the question, leaving the case to move through the Polish court system. (For those who have been spared the horror of the judicial system, court cases move slower than a snail on valium.) The KRRiTV has seemingly taken the position that the case is not in its jurisdiction, which seems strange since the media law and television broadcasting are what it's all about.
Most likely, though, the council has sidestepped it because it is far behind the technological curve and doesn't know how to react to the changes that are gripping the communications industries. That is why Sellin's proposal makes so much sense. He suggests disbanding the council and creating a new regulatory body that would be a watchdog for broadcasting and telecom issues. Such a body would likely be similar to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.
The danger even with this proposal is that the government will believe it can manage the information technology-communication-entertainment market. That has been one downfall of the current council. Delocated broadcasting has shown the difficulty in that. However, the council and government still cling to outmoded laws. Now just wait till web-based television, not to mention streaming video already available, create thousands of unlicensed Polish channels. Such an understanding also needs to take place in relation to broadcasting. Any regulatory council must try at best to ride this coming technological wave. If correctly constituted such a council as Sellin proposes may be able to do so. If the current council and government think they can control or block the wave, they will find themselves quickly swept away to the shores of irrelevancy.
