The Municipal Court in Prague has issued two preliminary measures against the M7 Group in connection with the unauthorised distribution of the FTA channels TV Nova in Slovakia and TV Markiza in the Czech Republic.
In a statement, TV Nova, the leading broadcaster in the Czech Republic, says that under the terms of the preliminary caution M7 Group is required to block access to TV Nova’s programmes via decoder cards that allow users to access the DTH platform Skylink’s services in Slovakia. At the same time, M7 Group cannot offer and sell decoder cards in Slovakia that allow access to TV Nova’s freely broadcast channels.
Similarly, the preliminary measure also obliges M7 Group to block access to TV Markiza’s programmes via decoder cards in the Czech Republic. At the same time, M7 Group may not offer and sell decoder cards in the Czech Republic that allow access to TV Markiza’s freely broadcast channels.
Commenting on the court’s decision, Stepan Peichl, director of TV Nova’s legal section, said: “The court upheld our view that Skylink’s conduct is unlawful and we will consistently enforce the end of this illegal dissemination. We will proceed with the company and its representatives with regard to their responsibility for this condition. Skylink’s talks are quite surprising as we have valid contracts that restrict the distribution of free TV Nova stations to the Czech Republic and TV Markíza to Slovakia, as was also agreed with a number of other distributors two years ago.”
TV Nova and TV Markiza are both owned by Central European Media Enterprises (CME), while M7 Group –operated Skylink provides DTH services in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, the Municipal Court in Prague also ruled against M7 Group a month ago.
In that instance, it issued an interim injunction preventing the company from distributing FTV Prima channels meant for Czech viewers to those living in Slovakia.
