CASBAA urges rethink of cross-carriage rules

The Media Development Authority (MDA) had come into the news for postponing the enforcement of its media content code, which mandated cross-carriage of TV content on rival platforms StarHub TV and SingTel mio TV.

In its news release, CASBAA said that these regulations will supress incentive for content innovation and particularly damage the business of “marquee pay-TV programming, which by its nature is expensive to produce or acquire.”

It further stated that constant regulatory fine tuning can be expected with significantly enlarged state interventions, which urged the Government of Singapore to revoke changes in the Media Conduct Code that impose the “cross-carriage system”. 

CASBAA, which represents the pay-TV industry across 16 Asian markets, said the proposed regulations are damaging to Singapore’s hard-won role as a regional content hub.

“Content owners, who have used Singapore as a regional base for more than 15 years, consider the new rules very harmful to the country’s reputation for protecting intellectual property rights holders,” said Simon Twiston Davies, CASBAA CEO.

Drawing on advice from global trade and intellectual property rights specialists Greenberg Traurig, which represents the International Intellectual Property Association in Washington, CASBAA concluded that the new rules remain inconsistent with Singapore’s international treaty obligations.

“These are regulations that will not work for Singapore and would be even more destructive in other jurisdictions,” added Twiston Davies.