§ Mr. RentonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress he has made in finalising regulations to require BSkyB to license its decoder box and other associated digital technology to other broadcasters. [8319]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 11 December 1996]: The final consultation on the regulations which will apply when conditional access services for digital television start, late next year, was completed on 11 December. The draft regulations ensure that whoever establishes a population of set-top boxes, all broadcasters will be able to gain access on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. We will now make the final regulations available to Parliament for consideration before the recess. Subject to parliamentary approval, they will come into force within 21 calendar days.
Regulations covering the licensing of industrial property for conditional access technology came into force on 23 August this year. These oblige companies who license one manufacturer to build set-up boxes to consider applications from other manufacturers for similar licensing of the same industrial property. Any decision not to permit such licensing would have to be based on fair and transparent grounds, and could be challenged directly in the courts. To go beyond this, to require compulsory licensing of intellectual property rights, would be an extreme step, which the United Kingdom would contemplate only if no other action to tackle anti-competitive behaviour was available. Given that the digital television market is still at a very early stage, with no services being offered before next year, it would be premature to reach such a conclusion.