Fed: Liberal MP slams "old hat" digital broadcasting laws

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2000
Fed: Liberal MP slams "old hat" digital broadcasting laws

CANBERRA, Aug 21 AAP - A Liberal backbencher today slammed the government's digital
broadcasting regime as last gasp laws designed to protect commercial television broadcasters
at the expense of consumers.

Digital broadcasting is due to be phased in from January 1, but restrictions on new
interactive television services have been criticised as too strict to realise the full
potential of the technology.

The government banned datacasters from showing entertainment, drama and other programs
to stop them competing with commercial broadcasters, as part of a deal to compensate for
high digital start-up costs.

But coalition communications policy committee secretary Gary Hardgrave said the regime
enshrined technology which would be out of date by the time it started.

"The legislation that becomes law, that establishes the new ground rules from 1 January
next, is really the last gasp of the old moguls to maintain their importance as the transmitters,
the distributors of information and entertainment," he told the ABC's Four Corners.

"This is the last gasp legislative package.

"Technology is going to make it redundant so fast that in fact what starts on the first
of January is already old hat."

Mr Hardgrave said cabinet had put the interests of the media moguls ahead of consumers.

"We now have in place in this country a decades-old tradition of a cabinet level decision
about who owns what and who gets this and who's got to be happy," he said.

"Rather than simply saying technology, the world, the range of possibilities, the new
players and oh, by the way, the average Australian deserves better."

The government's laws were widely perceived to favour the Nine Network's Kerry Packer
at the expense of wannabe datacasters Fairfax and News Ltd, and drew a strong response
from News Ltd publications.

AAP kmh/hu/de

KEYWORD: DIGITAL

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