The Taipei City Government fined four cable television companies yesterday for failing to stop broadcasting unlicensed channels, in a move it says was made to protect the rights of cable subscribers.
City officials said the fines would increase exponentially if the companies continued to broadcast unlicensed channels, switched channels or reduced the number of channels.
King Pu-tsung (
All four are run under the banner of Eastern Multimedia Co. Ltd. (
"We have to safeguard the dignity of law as well as the rights of Taipei citizens," King said.
Nine cable providers had been warned by the city government on Monday to stop switching channels or broadcasting unlicensed channels.
When renewing contracts with channel agents who provide programming, such as HBO or Cinemax, some cable providers move the channels to a higher number to up the ante at the bargaining table. This, however, leaves viewers searching for their favorite channels.
After city officials met with the nine cable companies Monday evening, four companies failed to resume broadcasting their original channels.
King said another fine of NT$500,000 would be issued to each of these companies if they failed to improve the situation by 4pm yesterday. All four turned a deaf ear to King's warning and by 4:30pm, city officials announced that the four each faced additional fines of NT$500,000.
Independent legislator Tsai Hau (
"I am ready to shoulder the tickets issued to system operators [referring to the four cable TV companies]," Tsai said, adding that he had prepared sufficient cash to fight the battle.
Tsai said the city government is not legally entitled to punish channel agents, so it is trying to "punish system operators."
Media experts disagree.
The city government's action to fine the system operators is "legally justified" as the companies' switching of channels infringes upon consumers' rights, said Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉), a professor of mass communications at National Taiwan Normal University.
Citing regulations in the cable broadcasting and television law, Hu said the city government, as a regulatory agency, is entitled to take necessary measures to punish cable TV companies involved in "improper operations" that are seen as acts of encroachment of subscribers' rights.
But Hu also urged the GIO to say whether it's legal for channel operators awaiting licenses from the GIO to "use signal testing" to start their operations, which is what Tsai has said he is doing.
City officials have also urged the GIO to take concrete measures to help solve the chronic problem of channel switching ignited by price wars between cable television companies and channel agents during their annual contract renewal battles.
"The chaotic cable TV pheno-menon is islandwide. The GIO should take concrete actions to counter these growing problems," King said, adding that the GIO can take measures such as revoking the licenses of channel operators involved in illegal operations.
GIO director Chao Yi (
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