Parliament debates on Bill to prevent piracy on satellite channels & give exclusivity to Gibtelecom

A Bill to prevent piracy on satellite channels, to give exclusivity to Gibtelecom on telephony and to ban mobile phones in schools has been debated in Parliament.

The Opposition abstained on the Bill, describing it as a 'clumsy' piece of legislation with the three different parts of the Bill having nothing to do with each other.

The Government sees it differently- saying the Bill is a joint-up approach in terms of infrastructure and final use. 

The Communications Amendment Bill was presented by Sir Joe Bossano and is divided into three parts.

The first gives the Regulatory Authority the power to investigate allegations and take action on protected content infringement- electronic communication which infringes copyright.

This is aimed at regularising satellite TV channels.

The second part of the Bill introduces telecommunications legislation that gives exclusivity to Gibtelecom with Sir Joe saying this gives the company greater resilience.

The third part amends the Education and Training Act and gives legal backing for the prohibition of mobile phones.  John Cortes said it does not criminalise children but gives legal backing to policy.

During the budget, Dr Cortes announced the Government was looking at a system of signal proof pouches for mobile phones in schools.

Opposition spokesman, Edwin Reyes pointed out the Bill covers lunchtimes and break-times and asked whether this would not encourage and increase entry and exit from school.

The GSD's Craig Sacarello claimed the different parts of the Bill had nothing to do with each other which made voting for the Bill difficult.

On what he termed the monopolising of the telecomunications provider, Mr Sacarello said the importance of competition was that it drives efficiencies and innovation and ultimately benefits the consumer.

The Chief Minister pointed out Gibtelecom belongs to the people and would therefore only benefit the people and Gibraltar's economic interests.

He agreed with regularising satellite channels but questioned how it's been done, without consultation to the other players.

He also pointed out it will change how we watch television.

Opposition Leader, Keith Azopardi disagreed with the Chief Minister that it was holistic legislation- the proof he said was in the fact that it actually amended two different pieces of legislation - the Communications Act and the Education and Training Act.