EU antitrust investigation targets major movie studios for geo-blocking content
The EU has filed a host of antitrust charges against Sky UK and US movie studios Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, and Warner Bros for convoluted licensing agreements across the continent.
The group is alleged to be hampering competition by licensing content on a national basis across many of the member states. In particular, under scrutiny was the geo-blocking of UK services across the continent, a move which the commission is arguing stifles competition.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy, said: "European consumers want to watch the pay-TV channels of their choice regardless of where they live or travel in the EU. Our investigation shows that they cannot do this today, also because licensing agreements between the major film studios and Sky UK do not allow consumers in other EU countries to access Sky's UK and Irish pay-TV services, via satellite or online.
“We believe that this may be in breach of EU competition rules. The studios and Sky UK now have the chance to respond to our concerns."
The charges are part of the EU’s Digital Single Market Strategy which you can read more about here.