Quote:
Originally Posted by VIXEN ESCORTS
However 18 level content is streamed via Sky onto our TV sets every night across a multitude of channels with no controls at all, not even compulsory pinning of all the channels.
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All governed by OFCOM where the broadcaster resides in the UK. Not all of them do, same as ATVOD which only relates to the UK. Every other European country has their equivalent as it is part of euro wide treaty. Hence why I wouldn't like to be running in tube sites in say, germany or belgium.
Also the content is not strictly what you would imagine an 18 classification is. For FTA channels (Free to Air) there is no genital display, no penetration, no pink etc. When there is, then there are fines, or the offending owners were not regulated by the UK. Channels that broadcast harder content are required to operate behind a red button, which is deemed to be adult verified as the owner of the equipment is then liable. A SKY channel for example is just a rented pre-tuned channel number on a satellite receiver.
To broadcast a channel first you need an uplink facility, then you buy a transponder downlink channel, then you just pay SKY to allocate one of their numbers to receive a particular frequency and some insurance bond. If they do restrict anyone, then it's just down to how they want their channel allocations to look and pretty much anyone complying with legal broadcasting is allowed to do so. There are plenty of channels you can get on a SKY box by manual tuning that have not bought a "channel number" either from finance or broadcast non-compliant material.
If the purchaser of that channel lies outside of the UK, but conforms to european broadcasting regulations within the country that they operate in then SKY are "almost" obligated to provide services so as to avoid anti-competitive business or something.
However, ATVOD are going to be able to flex more muscle over the coming years as their remit is expanding slightly and they are of course being buoyed up with the massive amount of money already being paid. As they get more money, they will be able to expand their legal and collection teams, probably farming these out as pay/reward options. i.e if you are a legal firm and they send you a list of 500 websites and you manage to get the fee or fine out of the site then you take a percentage as legal "fees".