Cross-border access to content: Too little, too late!
This week MEPs, Commissioners and European Council members were queuing up to pat themselves on the back for agreeing a political deal to allow people to access paid-for music, video games and video-on-demand services when travelling between EU countries. Even the consumer organisation BEUC described it as a “consumer win.”
Which, technically it is, but only if you accept the current ridiculous state we are used to as legitimate. The idea is to make online rules more like offline ones. To get a sense of how screwed up the current rules are, imagine for a second, officials wrenching cds and dvds from our hands when we cross the border. “Sorry madam, hand over the Dire Straits Greatest Hits cd. You can have it back when you go home!”
“Artificial barriers blocking you from using your online video, music or game subscription contradict the very principle of a single market. Today we are getting one step closer to a digital single market that delivers for consumers,” said Monique Goyens, BEUC director general. She’s right, but it’s a baby step at best.
Rapporteur Jean-Marie Cavada said that the agreement will benefit “service providers, right holders and creators,” as well as citizens. Yet it is those very rightsholders’ refusal to move with the times and staunch adherence to an outdated business model that has led to this situation.
Currently cross-border portability is restricted by territorial and exclusive licensing practices.
According to the deal, which must still be approved by the Parliament’s legal committee, the Parliament as a whole and the Council, the new rules will apply retroactively, meaning that content purchased before the rules enter into force will not be geoblocked. Whoop-di-doo!
The rules will not apply to free-of-charge services. The Parliament’s press release adds “but their providers will have the option of making them portable EU wide.” Don’t be misled. Providers have always had this option.
The agreed legislation will allow online content service providers to take “reasonable and proportionate measures” to verify the EU country of residence of the subscriber — including payment details, public tax information, postal address details or IP address checks. Since when are we okay with handing over our home address in order to buy a video game? Again, compare this to what happens when you want to buy a physical game in a bricks and mortar shop.
But all this misses the point if people cannot buy the content they want in their home country. At a BARE MINIMUM I expect to be able to watch videos I’ve paid for on holiday. This political deal is righting a wrong, not creating some utopian world for me as a customer.
As a case in point, last night I was struck with a desire to watch The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a 1996 mini series (don’t ask why). Try as I might I could not find anywhere to purchase it online. Neither Amazon, nor iTunes, nor a couple of other less well known outlets would allow me to purchase it. I tried VPNs to no avail.
In the end, I did what any reasonable person would do, and watched it without paying for it. So well done rightsholders, you’ve just robbed creators of revenue.
If those who are so pleased with themselves this week for their mediocre improvement of a bad situation really wanted to help consumers, they would work to get rid of this preposterous model that encourages consumers to pirate content.
