The UK broadsheet ‘The Sun’ has won a ruling in its favour, after Ofcom upheld an appeal that its Sun Video was not a VOD (Video on Demand) service and therefore should be exempt from the rules of the Association of TV On Demand (ATVOD).
The Association of TV On Demand (Atvod), the regulator of "TV-like" video services, ruled in February 2011 that national newspapers’ online video services would fall under new regulations introduced by it.
But newspapers, including The Sun and The Sunday Times, argued that their online video services should be exempt from regulation as their content was not "TV-like", and they were only complementing their articles appearing in print.
News Group Newspapers, of which The Sun is a part, appealed against the decision, following which Ofcom agreed that video-sections of The Sun shouldn’t be regulated after deciding that their video services are ancillary to news stories and features.
Following Ofcom’s announcement, ATVOD has dropped its cases against the video services of Telegraph, the Independent, FT, Guardian, among others.
Pete Johnson chief executive of ATVOD said given the clear similarities between the Sun and the other newspaper and magazine websites under appeal, we have moved quickly to confirm that the determinations in relation to those services are being withdrawn with immediate effect.
