Ec Moves To Blockkirch-Bertelsmann Digital Alliance

The move is the latest blow to the ambitions of the two media giants who have had several similar proposed joint ventures blocked on competition grounds. Back in 1994 the European Commission banned the establishment of Media Service GmbH, a three-way venture between Kirch, Bertelsmann and Deutsche Telekom AG, declaring it incompatible with the common market.

In an angry reaction to the latest venture, Willy Helin, a spokesperson for the EUs competition commissioner Karel Van Mier commented: This is an ongoing thing. It is not the first time Bertelsmann and Kirch have been doing things that are not entirely kosher.

 

Should the alliance go ahead as planned, Beta Research, a proposed four way venture between Bertelsmann, Deutsche Telekom, Kirch and Audiofina, would own the rights to the Beta-access technology being used for digital distribution.

The EUs main concern is that this access platform would become de facto standard and that specifications for the d-box signal decoder, running a proprietary encryption system, and would not be made freely available to potential rivals.