IAB EUROPE SUPPORTS THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN PRINCIPLE IN EUROPE

IAB EUROPE signs Cross-Industry Declaration


IAB Europe CALLS ON MEPS TO STOP MEMBER STATES INTERFERING IN FREE CIRCULATION OF INTERNET AND MOBILE CONTENT
INDUSTRY DECLARATION PUBLISHED IN ADVANCE OF FIRST READING VOTE ON AMS/TVWF, 11-14 DECEMBER
Safeguarding the principles of mutual recognition and country of origin is the most effective way of ensuring that consumers are provided with the widest choice of innovative media services by thriving European media, information, technology and entertainment industries
IAB Europe joins Europe’s media and internet industry in calling on MEPs to reject proposed amendments to the draft audiovisual media services directive that would give individual Member States a possible derogation to the country of origin principle laid down by the Commission’s original text. MEPs cast their First Reading vote on AMS in the December Plenary (11-14/12).
The IAB EU joins nearly 60 signatories from the media and Internet world in presenting a Declaration to MEPs this week where the key message is to "call on Members of the European Parliament to ensure that one Member State cannot raise objections to programmes and on-demand internet based services or the advertising which supports these services from another Member State on the very broad grounds of "general public interest". IAB Europe fears that this derogation gives Member States carte blanche to summon up "general interest" as an excuse to block any content from other countries. Areas in danger include advertising and marketing to children where some Member States impose national bans on their operators. IAB fears that giving Member States a right to interfere would completely undermine the integrity of the directive.
Country of Origin, argues the media and internet industry, provides the level of legal certainty necessary to encourage companies to exploit opportunities afforded by the internal market.
New on-demand services on the internet and via mobile need legal certainty. It is not acceptable for providers never to know until the day they launch a service which laws they will be subject to. Without this principle of mutual recognition based on home country control, media service providers will be subject to content control from outside their own jurisdiction.
IAB Europe maintains that such derogation would be completely at odds with the notion of an internal market and must be rejected to safeguard the future viability of Europe’s media services.

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