This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory and in IRIS 2022-5:1/16
The OTT platform DAZN, operating under German authorization, has acquired the audiovisual rights on the Italian Serie A Championship, obtaining the possibility to broadcast all Serie A football matches (380 in total) for three years (2021-2024), of which 70% are on an exclusive basis.
Although AGCOM welcomed the web-broadcasting of such a major sporting event in Italy as an important leeway for the digitalization of the Country, several problems arose concerning the quality of the streaming services offered.
For this reason, through Resolution No. 334/21/CONS, AGCOM initiated a proceeding aimed at defining the quality parameters for the fruition of live streaming broadcasting services, of the Italian Serie A Championship, offered by DAZN in the Italian territory. Through this proceeding, AGCOM’s goal was to define the parameters of reference to measure the quality of the live streaming services, having considered user experience and the relating thresholds, to guarantee appropriate indemnifications to those users who suffered poor quality of service.
In addition to DAZN, interested parties presented their contributions during the aforesaid proceeding, amongst which were: providers of electronic communications services (Fastweb S.p.A., Vodafone Italia S.p.A., WindTre S.p.A.) consumer associations (Adiconsum, CODACONS) and the national inter-university consortium for IT studies.
The proceeding was closed through Resolution No. 17/22/CONS by which AGCOM adopted the aforementioned parameters (included in Annex A to Resolution No. 17/22/CONS) and required DAZN to comply with the measures provided therein within three months from having received the notification of the Resolution.
References
- Delibera N. 334/21/CONS – Ordine alla società DAZN Limited ai sensi della legge 14 novembre 1995, n. 481 e avvio di un procedimento per la definizione di parametri di qualità per la fruizione dei servizi di diffusione in live streaming delle partite di campionato di calcio
Resolution No. 334/21/CONS – Order to the company DAZN Limited pursuant to Law No. 481 of 14 November 1995 and initiation of a proceeding for the definition of the quality paramaters for the fruition of live streaming broadcasting services for soccer matches - Delibera N. 17/22/CONS – Conclusione del procedimento per la definizione di parametri di qualità per la fruizione dei servizi di diffusione in live streaming delle partite di campionato di calcio di cui alla delibera n. 334/21/CONS
Resolution No. 17/22/CONS – Conclusion of the proceeding for the definition of the quality parameters for the fruition of live streaming broadcasting services for soccer matches initiated through Resolution No. 334/21/CONS
