The Polish OTT service Videostar is facing legal action from the country’s leading broadcasters.
Biznes.pl reports that the service, which is operated by a company named Netwizor, gives viewers access to a number of channels including TVP1, TVP2, Polsat and TVN.
However, TVN has already filed a complaint to the prosecutor’s office that this is being done without its permission. Both TVP and Polsat are also understood to have made similar complaints.
Netwizor has countered by saying that it is allowed to distribute the channels as they are both must-carry and must-offer services.
It met, along with representatives of TVP, Polsat and TVN, with the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) in early November to argue its case and the regulator has still to pass a judgment in the case.
Significantly, must-carry/must-offer requirements apply to IPTV operators that reach at least 100,000 viewers. Videostar is distributed by O2, which is owned by Wirtualne Polska.
It offers viewers a total of four packages, the first one of which (‘Starter’) is free and consists of 22 and most comprehensive one (‘Extended’) provides 52 channels for PLN24.90 a month.
