students flock to movie theaters — in an effort to promote local films. Chinese officials have been quoted as saying they want domestic film companies to make up at least 50 percent of China’s boxoffice receipts. In the first half of 2007, revenue for foreign films was $100 million, with domestic films taking in just $40 million. Media analysts predict that this impromptu ban won’t really boost domestic box office since U.S. blockbusters bring in audiences, ultimately helping Chinese filmmakers. The U.S. studios’ organization and lobby, the Motion Picture Association of America, has vowed to combat the situation as best as they can. India Faces TV Regulations India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of expanding the government’s regulatory power over TV early this month. The decision will allow the governmentestablished Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to monitor broadcasting and cable services, with special emphasis on fees charged for certain channels. The verdict came in spite of a petition by entertainment company Star India –– partly owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp –– which claimed the new stipulation doesn’t fall under TRAI’s jurisdiction. As India’s largest privately owned entertainment company, Star India stands to lose substantial revenue from the initiative. Star India’s senior advocate Fali Nariman asserted to the Court that the new powers granted to TRAI are illegal because they are not outlined in the original act that established TRAI. Founded in 1997, TRAI serves primarily to police service provider licensing and facilitate technological advancement in telecommunications. Although there was much outcry from private companies, led by Star India, the court ordered that TRAI regulate the broadcasting sector until the government passes a Broadcasting Act to specify otherwise. Canada Against Foreign Takeovers In the wake of a number of foreign takeovers of Canadian companies in the broadcasting industry and beyond, Canada has made it known that it plans to investigate foreign stateowned companies looking to take over Canadian firms, and it won’t condone acquisitions that turn companies into marionettes of offshore puppet masters. The Canadian government hopes to send a message that while Canada welcomes outside investment, it won’t accept acquisitions made for anything other than commercial reasons. In the future, government officials say they plan to examine prospective buyers to determine the extent to which foreign governments control them and whether Canadian firms will lose a commercial focus if overtaken by outsiders. Canada is not introducing any official rules as to how it will go about this, and assures that the vast majority of stateowned enterprises don’t raise any red flags. However, the government will examine to what extent bidders adhere to Canadian corporate governance standards. The new measure was triggered by Beijing’s desire for global acquisation. But officials have made it clear that they will pay equal attention to state-owned takeover attempts from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Internet To Serve U.S. Air Passengers Research In Motion Inc. has joined forces with JetBlue Airways Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. to deliver free inflight Internet services to certain flights. Beginning in early December, a JetBlue A320 plane, dubbed BetaBlue, was equipped with the ability for passengers to connect to Yahoo’s e-mail and Instant Messaging services using WiFi enabled laptops and RIM’s BlackBerries for e-mail and messaging. As of now, RIM’s BlackBerry 8820 and Blackberry Curve 8320 models are the only devices that the airplane will support. The service will be operated using technology from Florida-based Live TV, which installs satellite TV hardware on airlines, including JetBlue. The Wi-Fi will be turned on when the aircraft reaches 3,000 meters in altitude. The inaugural BetaBlue flight, JetBlue Flight 641, flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport bound for San Francisco in early December. The company plans to test BetaBlue’s service for a few months to monitor passenger response. If successful, it plans to include the service on all of its planes. Dubai-based Emirates and Singapore Airlines already equip their fleets with Internet-ready connections, but JetBlue will be the first in North America to provide the service. JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 NATPE 2008 A VIOLIN FOR RENAUD (DOCUMENTARY) 55’ SOULS ON THE RUN (TV MOVIE) 2x78’ THE CROSS AND THE MANDALA (DOCUMENTARY) 2 x 55’ GOTCHA (TV MOVIE) 90’ 1429 (Continued from Page 2) (Continued on Page 6)
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