iesy Repository GmbH - Irish Stock Exchange
iesy Repository GmbH - Irish Stock Exchange
iesy Repository GmbH - Irish Stock Exchange
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<strong>iesy</strong> currently intends, depending on the outcome of the negotiations with MSG, to procure the digital platform services<br />
necessary for the distribution of the foreign-language and English language packages from MSG under the agreements<br />
currently being negotiated.<br />
KDG<br />
KDG licenses certain IT systems to <strong>iesy</strong> relating to network component tracking (SMILE-BK) and billing and customer<br />
care for <strong>iesy</strong>’s Level 4 subscriber base (Powerkabel). <strong>iesy</strong> plans to have the SMILE-BK system upgraded during 2005 under a<br />
new license agreement with KDG. In this respect, KDG and <strong>iesy</strong> entered into a letter of intent for the migration from SMILE-<br />
BK 1.5 to SMILE-BK 2.0 in April 2005. According to this letter of intent, the new agreement shall run until March 31, 2008.<br />
The Powerkabel system which <strong>iesy</strong> inherited from its acquisition of DeTeKS Hesse, will not be supported by KDG beyond<br />
December 31, 2005, and <strong>iesy</strong> intends to have integrated this functionality into its ICMS system by that time.<br />
CSG<br />
CSG provides maintenance services for our billing system software, CSG Integrated Customer Management System<br />
version 5.1 (“ICMS”). These services include: supply of patches and updates, provision of telephone support, telephone and<br />
email assistance, and provision of third party software upgrades.<br />
Competition<br />
The cable television and Internet services industries are competitive, and <strong>iesy</strong> faces significant competition from<br />
established and new competitors in these areas. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—We operate in<br />
competitive industries, and competitive pressures could have a material adverse effect on our business” and “Industry-<br />
Competition.”<br />
Intellectual Property<br />
The operators of telecommunications cable networks are required under the German Copyright Act (Gesetz über<br />
Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte) to acquire rights for the retransmission of radio and television programs that<br />
include, among other things, literary, scientific or artistic work protected by copyright law. In case there is no agreement on<br />
the rights for the retransmission, the retransmission may be prohibited by an injunction. Claims for royalties can exclusively<br />
be asserted by the German collecting societies (Verwertungsgesellschaften) and not by the holders of copyrights or related<br />
rights themselves. As an exception, however, broadcasters have the choice to assert their rights individually or via a<br />
collecting society.<br />
GEMA, one of the German collecting societies, has been mandated by most of the relevant German collecting societies<br />
to collect royalties from the telecommunications cable network operators. The large German private broadcasters, however,<br />
mandated VG Media to assert their royalty claims based on their cable re-transmission rights. The amount of the royalties due<br />
is not determined in the Copyright Act.<br />
On November 21, 1991, the legal predecessor of DTAG concluded agreements with the German public broadcasters,<br />
the German private broadcasters, certain foreign broadcasters and GEMA (acting both on its own behalf and on behalf of<br />
other relevant German collecting societies). These agreements governed the collection by GEMA of royalties for, among<br />
other things, literary, scientific or artistic works protected by copyright law that were included in radio and television<br />
programs re-transmitted through the telecommunications cable networks that are today operated by the regional cable<br />
companies. In 2000, a dispute over the amount of royalties to be paid to GEMA and to the German private broadcasters<br />
arose, and the existing agreements were terminated with effect from December 31, 2002. The parties involved entered into<br />
lengthy negotiations leading to the following settlements:<br />
The Level 3 operators, the German public broadcasters, a number of small private German radio and television<br />
companies, certain foreign broadcasters and GEMA (acting both on its own behalf and on behalf of these private and foreign<br />
broadcasters and the other relevant German collecting societies except for VG Media) agreed to amend and reinstate the<br />
agreements that had previously been terminated with effect of January 1, 2003. The new agreements cover analog and digital<br />
transmission and will remain in force until December 31, 2006.<br />
ish, the other Level 3 operators and VG Media entered into an agreement regarding the acquisition of rights for the retransmission<br />
of radio and television programs that include, among other things, literary, scientific or artistic work protected<br />
by copyright law, through the telecommunications cable networks of the regional cable companies. This agreement came into<br />
force on January 1, 2003 and may be terminated by each party on December 31, 2005, at the earliest. On March 22, 2005, as<br />
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