Colombia. On January 27, the Association of Operators of Information and Communications Technologies of Colombia, Asotic, sent us a statement rejecting the statements made by Ángela María Mora Soto, director of the National Television Authority, who on the official website of the entity and before various media affirms as a judged case the sanctions issued by the Authority against 45 companies in the subscription television sector, who immediately expressed their discomfort, "Things are not like that," says Valentina Cárdenas, a lawyer at Asotic.
In parts of the statement signed by its President, Galé Mallol Aguelo, clarifies the position of the organization referring as follows: "Although it is true that the ANTV is carrying out investigations of various subscription television operators regarding the fulfillment of their contractual obligations, it is necessary to point out that these processes are in progress and do not have a firm decision that determines the imposition of a sanction.
Thus, the demonstrations of the ANTV are surprising, and its threat to impose successive daily sanctions until the obligation imposed is fulfilled.
With the above, the ANTV is leaving a blanket of doubt in front of the 45 subscription television operators, whose names were published, generating discredit in the brands and discomfort in their administrators and users. We emphasize that many of the television operators that are published on the list of the newspaper La República, to date have not been sanctioned or notified of these sanctions.
The operators linked to Asotic, we are respectful of current regulations and as companies with 100% Colombian capital, we work with effort and dedication to generate employment in Colombia, seeking to compete with the large multinationals in the country; however, we see with concern that we do not have the support of the Authority to face the difficulties of competition, because through the messages given, the actions of these Colombian companies are attentive and questioned.
We know that the understanding regarding the payment obligations of copyright and related rights has not been peaceful in Colombia, nor in other countries such as Mexico and Ecuador, among others; however, despite the fact that on multiple occasions we have asked the ANTV for clarity on the subject, it has not been given. Additionally, we attach two communications issued by the past Director and the current Director of the ANTV, where they state that the entity has no competence in matters of copyright.
We consider that it is a good time for the sector, under the coordination with the ANTV, to review and clarify all the doubts that still persist not only in the face of Copyright issues, but also other obligations of subscription television operators."
On the other hand, the National Union of Telecommunications Companies, Unetco, headed by Jaime Hernando Talero Hernández, Legal Representative, commented the following: "Regarding the sanctions of the ANTV, UNETCO does not accept the coercive mode and the overreach of its capacities as a regulatory entity, although it is true that the Comptroller's Office exerts pressure on it and requests compliance with Law 23 of 1982, it is not clear why the ANTV has arbitrarily imposed a deadline on the negotiations and agreements that are made with the different collective management societies, in addition to the fact that the National Directorate of Copyright, DNDA, in a comfortable position has departed, leaving this issue to the service provider and has regulated the actions of the companies (of which the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce, SIC, it was very clear to denounce the position of abusive monopoly) and with respect to the payment for retransmission rights, we support that a legal pronouncement be given where it is clarified why if the retransmission rights in the signal are paid, why are the audiovisual works divided from the content, if the rights that are given to the content provider include them. The ANTV promotes a double payment by subscription TV operators by giving it the status outside the Law, which indicates to the providers of open signal (Caracol and RCN) that it is only through advertising to make sustainable and sustainable the free service of the signal.
Finally we are on the side of legal balance and benefit for the end user, who is ultimately charged the double payment promoted by ANTV"
Deepening the background of this situation, I received my hands on communiqué No. 21400002838 of February 12, 2014 issued by the ANTV at the head of the then director, Mr. Ramón Guillermo Angarita Lamk, who expresses to Dr. Vivian Alvarado Baena, Legal Representative of EGEDA COLOMBIA that: "In this regard, this entity informs you that the powers of the ANTV are limited to supporting and contributing to compliance with the rules on copyright, without this implying knowing and settling situations about the amount of economic benefits or application of copyright rules; nor can it demand that they obtain peace and salvos or additional requirements in respect of a particular management company, since this would go beyond their competences"... It concludes: "The National Television Authority reiterates that it lacks the power to intervene, define and resolve economic conflicts between the societies of collective management of rights and the concessionaires and operators of television, and that the competent entity to settle such conflicts are the National Directorate of Copyright and the Judges of the Republic."
This decision was respected by the current director, Dr. Ángela María Mora Soto, who through an express communication related to No. 201500010357 of May 29, 2015, explains to the collective society EGEDA COLOMBIA and to an operator providing the cable television service of Magangué that: "It is prudent to warn that the functions and powers of surveillance and control that the Law has granted to the National Television Authority, it is framed in monitoring and controlling the adequate provision of the public television service, and if said provision is being fulfilled in accordance with the law and regulatory norms, after assignment of an enabling title. However, this Authority cannot enter to settle the differences that have been generated between the parties, since the analysis of the communications related to this authority does not deduce with certainty the right to recognition and payment of the claims alleged by the Collective Management Society, which has hindered a possible litigation, so it is prudent to clarify that in this sense and taking into account that there are no powers for the resolution of conflicts, this Authority considers that this situation will be the subject of a possible judicial process in the corresponding jurisdiction, a legal scenario conducive to discussing within it, the rights that each party considers violated.
In this sense, only when the competent jurisdiction recognizes the rights of any of the parties to the conflict, this Authority may determine if there was any violation of the legal or regulatory rules by the operators that provide the television service, without this implying the collection of the recognized rights, for clearly exceeding the powers of the ANTV."
From this there is really a lot of fabric to cut, knowing that we are jointly creating a new Television Law for Colombia, at the date of publication it has not been possible to meet with Dr. Ángela María Mora Soto to explain us; what these sanctions are themselves and what ANTV operators can expect in this regard.
*Text written by Luis Pinto, advisor of TVyVideo+Radio.
