Welcoming the Competition Commission’s provisional finding of a lack of competition in the pay-TV market for Hollywood movies, Jill Johnstone, Director of Consumer Rights Policy at Consumer Focus said: 

‘The Competition Commission found that Sky enjoys a stranglehold on movies watched on pay-TV leading to a lack of effective competition and reduced consumer choice. We believe that the 15 month release window imposed by Hollywood studios after cinematic release is counter-productive and actually fuels the use of sites where people download movies illegally.

‘Greater innovation, competition and choice are needed if the industry is to steer consumers away from unlicensed services such as Newzbin. We know most people would prefer to take the legal option if available. We look forward to robust action by the Competition Commission to boost the legal choices available to consumers in this market. Carrots not sticks should lead the way in fighting online copyright infringement.’

Notes to editor:

• The Competition Commission is to publish its final decision on how to remedy the lack of competition in the pay-TV market for Hollywood movies by the 3rd August 2012.
   
• In July this year the members of the Motion Picture Association  where granted an injunction by the High Court, forcing BT to block access to Newzbin2 which allows consumers to download Hollywood movies without the permission of the copyright owners. The High Court is to rule in October on the details of the website blocking injunction. Consumer Focus believes that meeting consumer demand for Hollywood movies by offering services legally with different price points, either through subscription or pay-per-view, is the only viable long-term solution to copyright infringement. Here is Consumer Focus’s previous statement on the High Court ruling.