The regulation of digital conditional access systems: A case study in European policy making

The treatment of digital conditional access (CA) systems within the 1995 EU Advanced Television Standards Directive is considered. The European digital TV market is characterized by several rival proprietary CA systems as Member States interpret the directive in different ways. Low priority was given by the directive to issues of interoperability and open standards. It is argued that EU policymakers relied unduly on approval of industry players for the timing and content of regulatory proposals.