From: philip@cetia.fr (Philip Peake)
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Subject: Re: French digital radio decoder info needed
Date: 9 Apr 92 14:19:11 GMT
Organization: CETIA, France

In article <1992Apr8.082834.7851@lmpsbbs.mot.com> juergenb@ecs.comm.mot.com (Juergen Bartels) writes:
>In article <1992Apr6.142658.3323@cetia.fr> philip@cetia.fr (Philip Peake) writes:
>
>>There are 6 terestrial stations (well, maybe 5 now that La 5 seems to
>>have died), all but one (FR3) are on the sattelite. FR3 isn't there,
>>because it is SUPPOSED to be a regional channel, which in rality
>>means about half an hour per day of local news. The rest of the time it
>>is networked.
>>Now, you may ask why terrestrial channels broadcasting films
>>and other copyrighted material is transmitted unencoded ?
>>
>>Well, there are two answers given : the band is NOT the ECS or DBS
>>band, so you are not supposed to watch it, and secondly, it is only an
>>experimental service (this experiment has now been running
>>for several years ....)
>
>I thought they use the satellite only for relaying programs
>to their terrestial transmitters, at least the 'newer' 
>stations (LA 5, M6 etc)?

That was the idea. They thought that by using a "telecommunications" band,
people would not be able to receive it.

I really wonder how they get away with the copyright problem.
They broadcast films etc non-encrypted, and covering all of Europe.
(I suppose you could argue that "who wants to watch films dubbed into
french, except the French ...").

>LA 5 was to close down this weekend, I'm surprised that they
>are still there.

Me too, I'm in the US at the moment (isn't networking wonderful !)
so I didn't know that it was still there - strange ...

>>Most of the radio stations ARE terrestrial in origin, but some are
>>intended for specific audiences, such as supermarkets etc.
>>
>>Canal J is supposedly only available via cable ... When the new
>>sattelite is working (8degrees W, the same one that was used at
>
>
>What about people in rural areas where there is no cable, are they
>welcomed to receive with a dish?
>

Yes, and no. the EEC legislation  allows free access to any
programs broadcast. The French law tried to interpret this as meaning
"broadcast with the intent to be received by the public" - they don't like
the idea of you watching their "relay" satellite, feeds etc. But, the
legislation, as is usually the case in France was sloppy, overspecifying
things ..

	Side note: the French *hate* to use words which don't sound "French",
	and so invent new words - like VCRs, they became "magnetoscopes".
	Well, they used to have a TAX on magnetoscopes, an ANUAL tax !
	When video recording on optical disks arrived, thre was a little
	problem - no way could this be MAGNETOscope recording ...
	There is no longer any tax ...

Given the number of systems around, not only in France, but in
all of Europe capable of receiving the "telecom" band, it is now
difficult to argue that this is not a publicly accessible band, so,
so far, they havn't tried to restrict it.

>Radio stations really use the satellite as a relay to transmitters,
>right? In every city I saw a small dish next to a FM antenna.
>I'm a bit afraid with the new ALCATEL digital system many of the
>remaining analog stations might move to digital. That would leave
>just blank carriers!

Maybe so for French stations. there will be lots of "pressure" for
them to use this wondeful French invention. But, unless other people
pick up the technology ... who knows, it depends upon many factors,
such as price, and how many times the "standard" changes !

>>The French government would really like cable to work, and don't seem too
>>enthusiastic about satellite TV. There is a new law, which requires
>>satellite SYSYEMS to have a green sticker (same as telephones), so you will
>>find it difficult to buy seperate elements (dish, tuner etc) I suspect
>>that the next step will be to only certify systems using D2MAC ... they
>>have to force it to sell somehow ... and also stop French citizens
>>from being poluted by watching all that foreigen TV, especially when
>>it says unpleasant things about the French govt.
>
>Will French people accept this kind of treatment? I suspect nobody
>would like his officials to tell him what to do and what not to do?
>The idea of free exchange of information may be restricted a bit.
>Although I understand that each country should protect its culture
>a bit.

Protecting the culture has passed beyond even paranoya with some people.
Remember that it has only been a few years since TV became free of direct
government control in France, and there are many polititians who
regret that move. There was the famous case of Christine Ocrent (I
think thats how it is spelled ..) who was the best (personal oppinion
maybe - but shared by many) TV news presenter / Journalist who
walked out of the studio and resigned one day, when a few minutes
before the news started, she was ordered to remove a story
that the government didn't like ... she is back now, but it
took some time.

>Thanks Philip for explaining. I'm on FIDO also, but only here a few
>French people respond, that helps a lot. 

Well, just remember that I am not French - I just live there.
In general its a nice country, and the culture *should* be preserved,
but not at the expense of depriving its poulation of external ideas and
points of view.

I also tend to object to the use of pressure on EEC lawmakers to
enact laws/standards which favour products/technology coming
from a single country - this is what France is trying
very hard to do in forcing D2-MAC and HD-MAC down everyones
throats.

Philip
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