Planned new EU laws aimed at making online content more accessible to those that subscribe to it are closer to being finalised after a deal struck on the new rules earlier this month was endorsed by representatives of national governments across the EU.
At the beginning of February, the Maltese presidency of the Council of Ministers, on behalf of EU member state governments, together with European Parliament officials, confirmed they had "reached a provisional agreement" on new rules for cross-border portability of online content services.
At the moment, online consumers are often blocked from accessing services they have already paid for when they go on holiday or on business to another EU country, sometimes as a result of licensing restrictions. These restrictions on access to content, on a geographic basis, are sometimes referred to as the practice of "geo-blocking".
Under the new rules that have been provisionally agreed on, online service providers that charge consumers in the EU to access content such as music, TV shows, films and games will be required to ensure those consumers can access that content when they are temporarily present in another EU country. Content service providers will not be able to charge extra to provide for the portability of their services under the new framework.
The new rules are expected to come into force in 2018.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 21 2017, @05:45PM
I wonder how local licensing is even compatible with the open-market philosophy of the EU. Shouldn't every service that is offered in any EU country be available to all EU citizens?
Oh, wait, I forgot the lobbyists and their money.