Nimbus welcomes move for encryption of DD signals

New Delhi, Feb 1 (UNI) Nimbus Communication, which holds exclusive rights to broadcast all international matches to be held in India until 2010, today gave a guarded reaction to the Cabinet approval of an ordinance which makes it mandatory for private broadcasters to share their sports feed with public broadcasters DD and All India Radio.

The ordinance had been necessitated following refusal of Nimbus to provide its signals of India-West Indies Cricket series to Doordarshan on the terms acceptable to the public broadcaster.

''We welcome the move if it results in equitable sharing of revenue between the parties, but we will be able to give a final response only after we study the details of the law proposed to be enacted,'' a Nimbus spokesperson told UNI over phone from Mumbai.

She also welcomed today's announcement made by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi that a committee would be formed to prepare a roadmap for encryption of DD signals, saying it was a step in the right direction and would result in checking piracy.

The Minister announced the move while briefing mediapersons about the Cabinet approval of the ordinance earlier today.

''Our main concern was that if we gave our feed to DD it will not be able to save our exclusive rights gained at the cost of a huge amount from being misused by pirates in the obsence of encryption of its signals,'' she said.

The spokesperson said that their legal team would formulate their response after the whole document was available.

UNI