Several reports in the last few days that Netflix will soon launch in Hungary provided the backdrop to a number of debates on OTT at Media Platform 2014.
One of those reports, in the respected business publication HVG, went so far as to say that it was “99% certain” that the streaming service would make its debut in the near future, with Netflix having placed ads for Hungarian, Polish and Italian language specialists in the local media.
Istvan Petres, head of office at the NMHH, concluded his presentation on its activities by saying that the regulator was preparing a paper on OTT and was inviting views from the industry, which would be taken into consideration.
Andres Szinger, from the copyright collection society ARTISJUS, meanwhile conceded that it does not yet have a tariff for OTT services, though this is something it will have to deal with in the future.
He also said that ARTISJUS is open to providing test periods for OTT services, but there would have to be a definition for such periods.
Szinger raised a few eyebrows when he said that not much could be done within Hungary to ensure OTT services respect copyright. It would require an international perspective, with international laws.
Providing such an international perspective, Zdenek Vanicek, the president of the Czech Association of Electronic Communications (CAEK), said that the problem is deep rooted in European regulation, where not much has changed since 1993, when an EU directive on copyright law came into effect.
