Agenda

Morning

08:45 – 09:30

Registration and Welcome Coffee

09:30 – 11:00

Session 1 - Creating a regulatory environment for audiovisual media services fit for the digital age

New technologies are changing the way media content is accessed, produced, distributed and shared. The convergence of media has become a reality and is seen as a driver for future innovation in the AVMS sector, allowing content producers and broadcasters to deliver content that matches demand. The original aim of the AVMS Directive was to strengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual industry, promoting growth, cultural diversity and innovation. What updates are now required to deliver a Directive fit for purpose in today’s digital, ever converging environment?

This session will discuss the impact of convergence on media consumption, debate new regulatory approaches for emerging trends made possible through OTT players, "second screen" applications or "social TV" providing more interactive experiences to users, new revenue streams for content providers and debate questions related to consumer privacy.

To be discussed:

- What updates are required to make the AVMS directive fit for the converged, digital age and to what extent can the new rules be adjusted to new (often disruptive) business models for content creation and distribution?

- As audiovisual content from within or outside of the EU is becoming increasingly available on the Internet, what amendments, if any, are required to the ‘the country of origin’ principle?

- What new measures should be considered in addressing competition between OTTs operators and traditional providers? In this context, how will principles such as Net Neutrality, media plurality, and cultural diversity be respected?

- What impact will changing consumer behaviours, convergence, and potential regulatory adjustment have on advertising revenues, and by extension content investment in Europe?

- Should the AVMS directive address vital issues of capacity that will affect the user experience as next generation content services such as UHDTV start to emerge?

- With on-going discussions related to the General Data Protection rules and the upcoming review of the e-privacy directive, where does the balance lie between the personalisation of advertising (through the tracking of users across multiple devices and the use of smart algorithms and big data techniques) and the protection of consumers’ privacy?


Moderator: Paul Adamson, Chairman, Forum Europe

Lorena Boix Alonso, Head of Unit for Converging Media and Content, DG CONNECT, European Commission
Jeremy Olivier, Head of Internet Policy, Ofcom
Chris Hutchins, Vice President, Public Policy, Liberty Global
Aarti Holla, Secretary General, ESOA
Renate Dörr, Senior Manager European Affairs, ZDF

11:00 – 11:20

Coffee Break

11:20 – 12:50

Session 2 - A modern copyright regime for the digital age

A revamp of the EU’s copyright rules is central to the efforts to deliver a true digital single market in Europe.

This session will discuss the impact of copyright rules on the availability, variety and quality of creative content, and the access to knowledge and information in the EU. What are the concrete plans to break “national copyright silos” while encouraging creativity and innovation, supporting the development of the media sector, appropriately remunerating the rights holders and promoting Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity?

To be discussed:

- What are the tools and actions required to establish a copyright framework that remains fit for the digital age, benefitting creators, distributors and consumers across Europe?
- What copyright issues have arisen with the increased use of digital technologies and how are these impacting on the variety and availability of content in Europe? What is currently preventing European businesses from effectively developing cross border audiovisual services?

- What is needed to protect copyright and intellectual property rights and to provide adequate remuneration to the rights holders without hindering users’ freedom to access legally paid content at home or across borders?

- How will enforcement against infringements of intellectual property rights in a converged media landscape evolve? How will private copying levies have to evolve to keep up with services such as cloud computing?

- How will the new European copyright framework adapt to numerous content delivery options and to the creation of on-demand and recorded video services, or more recently of live video streaming apps? How will it address grey areas surrounding user-generated content?


Moderator: Magnus Franklin, Chief Correspondent, MLex ITM

Marco Giorello, Deputy Head of Unit Copyright, DG CONNECT, European Commission
Siada El Ramly, Director General, EDiMA
Cécile Despringre, Executive Director, Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA)
Damir Filipovic, Chair, Copyright Group, DIGITALEUROPE
Paul Pacifico, CEO, The Featured Artist Coalition - FAC

Afternoon

12:50 – 14:00

Networking Lunch

14:00 – 17:00

Session 3 - Defining the future of platforms

14:00 – 15:20

3.i - Cross border access to content, services and goods in Europe

Limiting territorial restrictions related to the access of goods and services online is another major objective of the EU’s DSM Strategy. With consumers currently denied access to specific websites based on their location, or re-routed to a locally specific website with different prices, encouraging pan-European accessibility of services and ending what is considered as “unjustified geoblocking” will become a fundamental consideration for the future of the audio-visual media services and e-commerce industries.

To be discussed:

- Are measures required to address discriminatory offers and pricing based on the location of the buyer in all sectors of digital consumption?

- What challenges need to be addressed when considering the possibility of portability of legally acquired digital content and cross-border access to media services?

- To what extent would a lift on geoblocking help combat piracy and fight illegal access to online content?

- What will the implications be for public broadcasters if their content is made freely available to viewers in other Member States who are not subject to the national licence fees or taxation that provide for the costs of the service?

- Alongside limiting geo-blocking, what other actions will be required to encourage cross-border online purchases of goods, services and digital content?


Moderator: Jennifer Baker, EU Policy Correspondent, Reporting on TPL

Jürgen Tiedje, ​Head of Unit, Service Policy for Consumers, DG GROW, European Commission
Adrian Whitchurch, Vice President European Affairs, BT
Mathieu Moreuil, Head of EU Public Policy, The Premier League
Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General, BEUC
Susan Wilson, United States Intellectual Property Attaché to the European Union, US Mission to the EU

15:20 – 15:40

Coffee Break

15:40 – 17:00

3.ii - Platforms: roles, obligations and liabilities

Online Platforms provide European consumers and businesses with competitive and innovative goods and services. Often described as “gatekeepers to the Internet”, they play a central role in the digital ecosystem. With the inevitable use of these platforms, of OTTs operators and the increasingly prevalent sharing economy platforms, issues linked to the regulatory environment for intermediaries have emerged.

This session will discuss the role of online platforms (search engines, app stores, emerging sharing economy platforms and social media networks etc) in the digital economy, and will debate issues such as the transparency of search results and pricing policies, promotion of services, the relationships between platforms and suppliers, and the use of consumer data. It will analyse issues around their obligations and liability regimes and explore challenges posed by the market power of some of the online platforms in the digital economy.

To be discussed;

- How is the emergence of the so-called sharing economy challenging existing businesses in Europe? How should policymakers approach these innovations?

- What are the obligations of platforms and intermediaries in relation to the legality of the content and products distributed via their channels, or the safety of their services? What effect will this have on their liability regimes?

- What role is there for online intermediaries in relation to copyright-protected work?

- With news publishers increasingly using social networks to publish and promote their content, how are the relationships changing between publishers and platforms?

- Is there an argument for better co/self-regulation within the online intermediaries sector, or is additional top-down regulation required?

- What impact will the Commission’s “Competition Sector Inquiry on the application of competition law in the e-commerce area” have on transatlantic trade, investments, and the principle of an open-internet and how to avoid the creation of a “Fortress Europe” for the digital economy?

Moderator: Jennifer Baker, EU Policy Correspondent, Reporting on TPL

Martin Bailey, Acting Head of Unit, Digital Single Market DG CONNECT, European Commission
Tanja de Coster, Associate General Counsel, Airbnb
Kristina Janušauskaitė, Senior Legal Counsel, IFPI
Stefano Quintarelli, Head of the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup for Technological Innovation and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Italian Digital Agency (AGID)
James Waterworth, Vice President, CCIA
Fabienne Weibel, Head of EU Public Policy, BlaBlaCar