Seven leading Polish media and telecom industry associations have appealed to the European Commission to intervene against proposed amendments to the law on receiver licence fees.
Wirtualne Media says that the bodies, which include the Polish Chamber of Electronic Communications (PIKE), believe the amendments may run counter to European law.
They list five specific concerns, the first of which is that they constitute a form of public assistance about which the EC has been notified.
The second is that run counter to technological neutrality and the third that they threaten the unlawful processing of personal data.
The fourth, linked to the third, is the possibility that the amendments could lead to an unacceptable change in the way subscribers’ personal data is processed.
Finally, they will place new obligations on the providers of TV services, such as providing Polish Post with details about subscribers in order to facilitate the collection of receiver licence fees.
It has been estimated that following the proposed amendments around 2.8 million pay-TV subscribers will start to pay receiver licence fees, bringing in an additional PLN620 million (€145.4 million) in revenues for public service broadcasting in Poland.
