COLOGNE, Germany – The media regulator of the Netherlands on Thursday published new rules governing video on demand services in the territory, which will take effect Nov.1. The rules will apply to all professional VOD services in the region, such as Movie Max and Videoland as well as those provided by cable and broadband operators and TV channels’ catch-up offerings. All will have to submit their service to regulators within two weeks of the new rules taking effect.
The basic outline of the regulations has been known for sometime now. They include the regulation of commercials, sponsoring and protection of minors as well as the definition of what constitutes a commercial VOD site. Sites providing user-generated videos or advertisers who post videos on their own site, for example, will not fall under the new law.
