Canal Plus is to drop support for ‘Canal Ready’ receivers and return to a solely proprietary system.
The ‘Canal Ready’ label was introduced in 2009 for DTT and DTH receivers and integrated TV sets compatible with the CI Plus standard.
It now wants to withdraw the scheme from 2016, blaming the high amount of piracy on such receivers.
A total of 37 manufacturers including Philips, Sony, LG and Technisat had all signed up to the scheme bringing satellite and DTT receivers s as well as integrated TV sets on the market. One of them, Aston, has taken the matter to the competition commission and commercial court of Paris, accusing Canal of dominance.
However, judges said the potential impact on Aston’s market is minimal. In its defense, Canal Plus argued that it had terminated its contract with Aston “respecting the notice period stipulated in the contract.”
However the court still found that Canal Plus was very dominant in the market for satellite pay TV decoders. Indeed, of the 3.2 million households subscribe to pay TV satellite, 90% rent their decoder directly from Canal Plus.
The full verdict of the Commercial Court, can be found here, but is only available in French.
Both Aston and Canal Plus have declined to comment, but French press reports suggest that Aston is appealing the decision and looking to other judicial means.
