ASC ENTERPRISES LTD Vs. MTV INDIA PVT LTD AND SET DISCOVERY PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER No. 1, M/s ASC Enterprises is a licensed provider of Direct to Home (DTH) television services to consumers under a license granted by the Central Government (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) on 16/7/2003. PETITIONER No. 2, M/s New Era Entertainment Network Ltd is stated to be a content aggregator for the DTH platform of PETITIONER No. 1.

(2.) Direct to Home (DTH) is a system whereby the DTH service provider receives the signals of various channels from the broadcasters and other channel providers and thereafter transmits them in an encrypted form wherever required through the satellite to the consumers who receive the signals at their premises through a dish antenna and are decoded/decrypted by a set-top-box attached to the TV set if necessary by making use of a viewing card which enables the customer to view the transmitted channels on TV. DTH is a mode of distribution of signals of television channels whereby signals are received at subscriber premises directly from the satellite in a digital mode and is gaining popularity internationally and is stated to have various advantages over the traditional Cable System. One characteristic feature of the system is that every subscriber gets a specific code and each subscriber is specifically accounted for through what is called a Subscriber Management System (SMS), a central monitoring facility, except for free to air DTH channels.

(3.) THE petitioner is stated to have approached M/s. SET Discovery for getting the signals of 'MTV' and 'Nickelodeon' channels for transmission/distribution from its DTH platform. However these were not made available on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms as a result of which the petitioner approached Respondent No. 1 as broadcaster for supply of the said signals who gave the response that the request be referred to its distributor. THE petitioner is aggrieved that despite the elapse of 30 days since the last communication sent by it to Respondent No. 1 dated 3/1/05, it has failed to provide the signals of 'MTV' and Nickelodeon channels.