"Hot behaved with demonstrable bullying: it did not conduct negotiations in good faith, but rather it tried to "blackmail" Keshet and dictate terms and prices, with an explicit threat in the negotiation room"
The fight between Keshet and HOT regarding the content agreements and Keshet's freetv OTT venture that will compete with HOT continues to heat up, and the parties are not content with discussions at the High Court - but are going down to the ground: Keshet appealed today (Sunday) to the Tel Aviv District Court Please issue a temporary restraining order against Hot.
The court ordered Hot to submit a response within 4 days and ordered a 2-party hearing within 8 days.
The background to the injunction request is the termination of Hot's agreements with Keshet to broadcast Channel 12 content on cable and OTT.
"Hot continues to use Keshet's content illegally despite the expiration of the licenses, indicating the request for an order and referring to the Broadcasters' Rights Law (1984) and the Copyright Law (2007) - "This request is submitted because Hot continues to use Channel 12's content after the expiration of the license agreements, in clear violation of copyrights and broadcasting rights which are the intellectual property of Keshet".
In fact, Keshet requests to prohibit Hot from making any use of its content on VOD, start over and catch up - with the exception of full transmission, in real time, of channel 12. In other words, Keshet also requests to remove its content from any delayed viewing service also on OTT of Hot NextTV.
"It should be clarified that the parties conducted negotiations for the signing of new license agreements," reads the request for the order, "but Hoot conducted the negotiations with a distinct lack of good faith and refused to enter into the agreements offered to it. It should be emphasized that Keshet has licensing agreements with all the other video platforms in Israel (Yes, Partner and Cellcom), including on the Internet, and some of them have also been renewed not long ago. Hot behaved with demonstrable bullying: it did not negotiate in good faith, but rather it tried to "blackmail" Keshet and dictate terms and prices, with an explicit threat in the negotiation room, If her dictates are not accepted, she will "simply" continue to use Keshet's programs on the Internet even without a license with idle legal claims. That's what she threatened, and that's what she's doing now."
Keshet Building (Photo: Reuven Castro)
"As the last of the pirate broadcasters"
A Keshet senior official says today to the Walla!
Branch: "Hot uses every means to block competition in the television market and to fight the FreeTV project, in which Keshet is a partner. The non-renewal of contracts is part of this"
Keshet calls Hot's claims "definite idle claims" - as you remember, HOT claims that Keshet must give Hot consent to use its content on OTT, in all types of viewing, including deferred viewing, free of charge, while Hot charges money for these contents and services from its customers.
"In practice, Keshet did not give Keshet any consent to use its contents. This is an act of corporate "piracy; Keshet forcefully copies and uses Keshet's content on the internet without any permission, and this violation of rights must be stopped by means of an injunction."
It also states that "there is and cannot be a dispute that Keshet has broadcasting rights and copyrights on Channel 12 and the programs broadcast on it, but even though Hot does not have any valid licenses to use Keshet's content - it continues to record and distribute the content on the internet and on cable as the last of the "pirates" broadcasters.
As of April 26, Keshet content will not be available on the VOD services on the HOT and NextTV cable platforms.
The content continues to be available on VOD of yes, Sting TV, Cellcom TV and Partner TV.
A Keshet senior official says today to the Walla!
Branch: "Hot uses every means to block competition in the television market and to fight the FreeTV project, in which Keshet is a partner. The non-renewal of the contracts is part of this."
As mentioned, in the background, Hot is conducting a legal and regulatory front against Keshet in the battle against Keshet's joint OTT venture with RGE, whose "coming soon" campaign has risen in recent days,
Hot Bikom building (photo: Walla! Technology)
Mako in the service of the struggle
In the last few days, a sponsored ad campaign appeared on social networks with an appeal to Mako, and under a title showing the version of Keshet vs Hot
In the meantime, Besket are not content with just turning to legal channels and are also harnessing the Mako website they own, for the benefit of the fight against Hot.
In the last few days, a sponsored ad campaign appeared on social media with an appeal to Mako, and under a title showing the Keshet vs Hot version (see photo).
The item itself was published in Mako in cooperation with the media and telecom site "Zman Ayer".
On the other hand, Bhot does not freeze the yeast either, and in the Calcalist of Yedioth Ahronoth - considered a fan and connected to Bhot - an "opinion column" by the head of the news was published in recent days, in which things were written condemning Keshet.
At the end of last week it was published in Vala!
Branch about the fact that HOT is angry about the launch of the streaming project before the High Court's ruling on the petition against it. "Keshet put a stop to the High Court - and launched freetv to establish facts on the ground," explained a Hot senior to Walla!
Barangay.
A senior official in the industry estimates today that Besket understands that their window of opportunity for struggle is very narrow and short.
"The request came up with a product full of bugs, quickly, out of fear that the High Court would have stopped them, or even the government." which was already seen as controversial. Either way, the temporary order and the law itself refer only to live broadcasting, not including start-over delayed viewing and not including payment for copyrights.
Sponsored promotion for the fight.
Mako (photo: screenshot, screenshot)
HOT: "Enrich the coffers of the shareholders at the expense of the citizens of Israel"
The HOT company
responded: "The court did not accept Keshet's request for a unilateral temporary restraining order, and quite rightly so. Keshet is abusing its monopolistic power in the field of commercial channels, in violation of the Communications and Competition Law. Keshet is a broadcast channel broadcast free of charge to the public in Israel According to the law. After Keshet failed in its efforts to extend the temporary order that allowed it to collect huge sums for its broadcasts, it is trying, while exerting improper pressures, to empty the broadcast distribution law of its content and is using improper practices to enrich its shareholders' coffers at the expense of the citizens of Israel.
" Hot expects the Competition Authority, the Ministry of Communications and the relevant parties to act against Keshet's violent and illegal actions.
Needless to say, Channel 12 will continue to be broadcast on HOT as required by law," the response reads.
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