Netflix, Amazon face quotas for European movies, showsMay 25, 2016 - 17:04 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. firms Netflix and Amazon face quotas for European movies and television shows under new EU proposals unveiled Wednesday, May 25 that also aim to lift cross-border barriers for Internet shoppers, AFP reports. The plan is the latest step towards what Brussels calls a digital single market, in which the European Union's 500 million people will no longer be blocked from buying goods and services more cheaply abroad online. "We have a European film culture and we think European content should be in those programs," Guenther Oettinger, the German EU commissioner for digital economy, told a press conference in Brussels, AFP says. The European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation European Union, called for US web streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon to devote 20 percent of their content in Europe to European movies and television shows. Oettinger said the Commission believes that "there should be a guaranteed share of those programs," and that "20 percent is a reasonable figure", noting Netflix already devotes 21 percent of its catalogue to European content. "We are giving businesses some room for manoeuvre to show non-European products," added Oettinger, speaking in German through a translator. Quotas already set by some member states vary between 10 percent and 60 percent, AFP says. Fighting the dominance of Hollywood is a major priority for EU heavyweight France in particular, which has for years subsidized its own national film industry through a special tax on privately-owned broadcasters that rely heavily on US-made content. Netflix has said it is against quotas or making contributions to film subsidies, instead putting a priority on developing its own content, including in Europe. Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |