Divya .M.B
“Lack of Regulations & Open Internet changes the viewing habits of people in India”
EXPANSION OF OTT: OTT refers to “Over The Top”.
What is OTT media service?
An OTT Media Service is a streaming service which is offered directly to the viewers through the internet.
How many OTT services in India distribute streaming media over the internet?
Currently, there are about 40 OTT service providers distributing streaming media over the internet.
What is the first dependent Indian OTT platform?
BIGFlix launched by Reliance Entertainment in the year 2008.
Which OTT Platform is the most subscribed in India?
Hotstar (Disney + Hotstar)
How OTT services can be accessible?
What type of contents can be provided by the OTT Platforms?
1) Audio
2) Video
3) Any media content delivered over the Internet
What law governs the OTT Platforms in India?
Though India is the second largest video viewing population country in the world, still, the government is not able to enforce regulations for the OTT Platforms. The courts usually left their judgements undetermined and pushed the Parliament to enact regulatory laws for OTT Platforms.
Various Petitions and Public Interest Litigations have been filed where every order stands to benefit the consumer and the order states that the decision-making power lies with the consumer who can decide to pick and choose his channels as he/she gets a chance.
The court also pointed out that the
⮚ OTT streaming services are not covered under the Indian Cinematograph Act, 1952;
⮚ Even the streaming services need not require approval from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB);
⮚ The regulation of OTT Platforms does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Whether regulation of OTT Platforms threatens the global internet?
⮚ The Online Curated Content Providers (OCCP) voluntarily signed a self-regulated code of best practices under the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in 2019, which has been signed by the major online platforms but not yet enforced.
⮚ As regulations of OTT Platforms involves in extraterritorial monitoring and enforcement,
it will definitely threaten the global internet by imposing burdens upon the OTT Providers which is not possible to meet.
What is the best method to regulate the streaming of OTT services in India?
⮚ The OTT Platforms should adopt the models of self-censorship in regard to the Indian legal framework without the interference of the government.
⮚ The Communications Convergence Bill drafted in 2001 should be brought into force to regulate the content in any format on all the platforms.
⮚ Introducing a global standard rating system for contents on OTT platforms.
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