BTRC shuts 59 illegal IPTVs

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Sunday shut 59 unregistered and illegal Internet Protocol televisions.

“The regulatory body has shut some illegal 59 IPTVs as some traders are running IPTVs through Facebook or YouTube illegally just after buying domains. Such broadcasting without permission is immoral and a violation of the Telecommunications Act,” said a BTRC press release on Sunday.

The BTRC release also said that approved Internet Service Provider operators from BTRC will be able to broadcast satellite TV channels through the internet after getting approval from the Ministry of Information only. However, for the broadcast of each channel or program, or content, the necessary contract or approval or clearance must be obtained from the concerned provider.

The BTRC only approves IP based data services (Streaming Service, IP-TV, Video-on-Demand) to licensed ISPs. IPTV is the process of broadcasting content on television using the Internet Protocol Network. However, for the promotion of each channel or program or content, the necessary approval must be obtained from the relevant

provider.

Meanwhile, BTRC has launched a non-stop massive monitoring drive on social media including Youtube and Facebook from Saturday last to identify any offensive content on personal, social, religious or anti-state issues.

During the last one year, BTRC removed about 5,000 objectionable content by contacting the Facebook authorities.

Similarly, Youtube blocked 62 links in response to BTRC's 431 requests. In addition, 1,060 websites and links were blocked so far through CTDR.