LONDON: The European Commission is trying to rally support for a sweeping overhaul of media regulations after policy makers softened proposals to govern the emerging digital media with the same rules that traditional broadcasters are required to live by.
The media commissioner, Viviane Reding, wants to update the Television Without Frontiers directive, a law written in 1989, to take account of sweeping changes in the media landscape brought about by the growth of digital technology.
Policy makers and media organizations, however, have shown about as much inclination to agree on the overhaul as the participants on a shout- down-your-opponent political talk show.
Some broadcasters argue that proposed changes do not go far enough, saying the proposals would continue to shackle them with analog-era restrictions. Internet media companies, which might face the unwelcome prospect of new regulations, say the proposals go too far.
Government representatives of the 25 member states of the European Union are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Monday to try to hash out some of the most contentious issues. Meanwhile, a committee of the European Parliament in Strasbourg is also expected Monday to deliver its verdict on the proposed legislation.
A draft of the latest proposal, circulated to EU governments last week, significantly narrows the scope of the proposed directive in an effort to appease the British government, one of the fiercest opponents of extending TV- style regulation to cover new media.
The new proposal would apply television broadcast rules, including quotas for European production and limits on advertising, to video-on-demand and other television-like new media.
But the British government and some Internet companies had feared that a previous draft would have gone even further, potentially subjecting private Web sites, blogs and Web cams to regulation.
The proposal, a copy of which was obtained by the International Herald Tribune, specifies that the regulations should cover only material over which a media organization exercises "editorial responsibility."
That stipulation, according to people briefed on the document, is an effort to prevent personal Web sites and blogs, as well as services like YouTube, which allow users to post their own video clips, from falling under the scope of the regulation.
Still, some Internet companies say that even the revised rules remain vague and problematic.
"Nobody has explained to us really well what is and isn't covered," said Lucy Cronin, executive director of the European Digital Media Association, a lobbying group for companies like Google, Yahoo and Amazon.com.
"I have no doubt that some of this will end up in the national courts."
The British government, however, has indicated that it can live with the proposed changes.
"Going forward, people's understanding of what a television program is will evolve," a spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said, speaking under its policy that she not be identified by name.
"In order to move the debate forward, we are willing to accept this."
People briefed on the latest maneuvering in Brussels say Britain agreed to the inclusion of video-on-demand in the new directive in return for assurances that programming would continue to be regulated in the European country in which it originates, rather than the place in which it is heard or viewed.
Several countries, including France, are said to want to change the so- called country-of-origin principle because it is easier to send programming across borders via the Internet than it is over the broadcast airwaves. That means media companies could get around one country's regulations by basing themselves in another EU member state.
Meanwhile, some broadcasters fear that the proposed law would continue to burden them with onerous restrictions at a time when new media are grabbing a growing share of ad spending.
The proposal, for instance, would allow commercial broadcasters to schedule commercial breaks every 35 minutes, down from every 45 minutes under the current rules. This change would allow commercial broadcasters to generate some additional revenue from advertising. Yet the proposal also would, for the first time, prohibit advertising on news or children's programs lasting less than 35 minutes.
"This is a highly dynamic industry with powerful new players entering the competition and customer behavior changing permanently," said RTL Group, the Luxembourg-based broadcaster controlled by Bertelsmann.
"To react accordingly, broadcasters need more flexibility."
Commercial broadcasters are also concerned about objections from some members of the European Parliament to the European Commission's plans to legalize product placement, which until now has been prohibited in much of Europe.
With a half-dozen European Parliament committees involved in the debate, along with EU governments, the commission and private-sector lobbyists, analysts say the new rules are unlikely to take their final shape before next year, at the earliest.
