Large over-the-top (OTT) television operators would be required to register with the government and subject to other special obligations under a new draft act regulating Internet audiovisual services (網際網路視聽服務法草案), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
The agency unveiled the legal framework of the new draft after an old draft, which was created in 2020 following a controversy involving Chinese streaming service operator iQiyi, was criticized for requiring operators to divulge what might be considered sensitive business information and for not incentivizing operators to generate new content.
Some criticized the government’s failure to effectively tackle rampant copyright infringement on some online streaming sites.
NCC Deputy Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) told the commission’s weekly news conference that Chinese OTT TV operators are regulated by the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), not the new draft act.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has since 2020 banned Taiwanese firms from serving as agents for Chinese streaming platforms, he said.
The OTT TV operators regulated by the draft act are those that establish service bases in Taiwan or have substantial ties with the nation, he said.
They are also those that have a substantial number of subscribers, such as Netflix, LiTV, Line TV, MyVideo, friDay, Hami Video, KKTV and Catchplay, Wong said.
The draft would not regulate platforms featuring user-generated content, such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, he said.
The regulated operators would be those that have a large user base, or who could affect the welfare or well-being of the public, he said, adding that the commission would publish a list of operators who must register.
The commission has yet to decide how many users or subscribers would qualify as operators, he said.
The draft stipulates obligations common to all OTT TV operators and obligations that only apply to registered operators, Wong said.
All operators are obligated to disclose basic company information, honor their user service agreements, broadcast legally obtained content and cooperate with government requests for information, he said, adding that overseas operators must have local agents.
Registered operators must join local self-regulating streaming service organizations, he said.
If a registered operator wants to suspend or terminate a streaming service, it must inform users in advance and tell them how they will be compensated, he said.
Registered operators must also commit to airing or producing content targeting Taiwanese audiences, Wong said.
The NCC is considering requiring overseas operators to work with local content providers, he added.
Overseas operators without local agents or operators failing to register as required would face penalties, he said.
Under the draft act, the NCC could order public communication networks, telecoms and Internet service providers to reject the services of an OTT TV operator if a final court verdict rules that it contravened the Copyright Act (著作權法), Wong said.
The draft act provides tax incentives for operators that produce local content, as long as the incentives comply with tax laws, Wong added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS