Twitter moves to beef up video sharing on social media

NEW YORK: Twitter said Thursday it has bought SnappyTV, a California firm that lets people edit and share clips from TV broadcasts.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SnappyTV, launched in 2010, has been collaborating with Twitter to "inject the best video content into Twitter´s real-time conversation, straight from the TV to your mobile device," Twitter said on its official blog.

Twitter added: "While we continue to invest in SnappyTV´s product and integrate it more tightly with Twitter, we also plan to maintain our partners´ ability to post high-quality videos to other platforms."

"As Twitter has grown as the companion to live events and broadcast media, SnappyTV will help partners and brands bring the best videos into the conversation, when it matters most," Twitter added.

Since the beginning of the year Twitter has been on a shopping spree, in particular for TV audience rating firms or social media advertising companies. These include the US firm Gnip, Mesagraph of France and Britain´s SecondSync.

Geo moves Pemra to hear its case on merit

 

ISLAMABAD: Geo television has moved Pemra, holding that before proceeding on the complaint of the Ministry of Defence the authority should take the opinion of the Council of Complaints (CoC) under the Pemra law and that Geo should be heard on the merits of the points raised in the complaint under Section 30(3) of the Pemra Ordinance.
The application filed by the Independent Media Corporation (IMC) also made a reference to the Supreme Court’s January 15, 2013 judgment passed by the apex court in the Hamid Mir vs Federation case mentioning that the authority becomes incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of a chairman and as presently there is no chairman, the authority is not complete and thus cannot proceed in this matter.

The Geo application also pleaded that three members of the authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar, have shown their mind and have repeatedly announced to revoke the Geo channel’s licences so they could not sit in the authority as judges on a complaint against Geo. The Geo application also pleads that on May 6, 2014, the lawyer of Geo, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, only submitted some legal objections and is yet to present his submissions on the merits of the complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence, and Geo should be given this right under Section 30(3) of the Pemra law.

The relevant parts of the application moved by Geo on April 27, 2014 read: “1. Your kind attention is drawn to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan dated 15th January 2013 passed by Mr. Justice(reported at PLD 2013 SC 244), wherein the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (“Pemra” hereafter) was held to be incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of its Chairman. Relevant portions of the judgement are reproduced below: “5. We have earlier recorded that at least since 13-5-2011, Pemra has no Chairman. In our order dated 20-12-2012, we have also noted the serious procedural challenge raised by the petitioners, who contend that when the Content Regulations were in the process of being made or when the same were adopted and notified, Pemra did not have a Chairman and was thus not lawfully in existence. Mr. Kazmi [counsel for Respondent No. 2] contended that Dr. Abdul Jabbar was notified and was acting as Chairman of Pemra. This contention is not correct …”

“6. Based on the above, we are quite clear that the Content Regulations which were notified on 25-9-2012 cannot be construed as regulations issued by Pemra …”

“7. Mr. Kazmi then contended that even if Dr. Abdul Jabbar was not a validly appointed Chairman, the de facto doctrine, incorporated in section 3(4) of Pemra Ordinance, would save all his acts; and the Content Regulations too should therefore be deemed to have been saved. This contention is without merit. The statute cannot be read in a way which makes its most important and potent parts such as the provisions about the very composition of Pemra redundant. Such an interpretation of the de facto doctrine verges on utter disregard for the rule of law which is the foundation of our constitutional order. …”

2. Therefore Pemra, as per the above clear ruling of Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, in the absence of a Chairman, is not validly constituted to execute and perform functions of the Authority as contemplated by Sections 4 and 6 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002.

3. That notwithstanding the above cited view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and without prejudice to the legal objections taken by Independent Media Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd. (the answering respondent) in reply to the Show Cause Notice dated 23.04.2014, it is further submitted as under: A. Proviso to Section 30(1)(b) of Pemra Ordinance requires that: ‘Provided that in case of revocation of a licence of a broadcast media, an opinion to this effect shall also be obtained from the Council of Complaints.’

As Authority has not yet obtained an opinion from the Council of Complaints, it is not allowed by the statute to proceed to revoke the respondent’s licence.

B. In addition to above, Section 30(3) of Pemra Ordinance provides: ’Except for reason of necessity in public interest, a licence shall not be … revoked unless the licencee has been given reasonable notice to show cause and a personal hearing.”

It may be noted that Pemra has not yet heard the answering respondent on merits of the complaint. During the hearing dated 06.05.2014, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, senior advocate Supreme Court, raised several preliminary legal objections, including the contention that in the absence of the chairman, Pemra was not lawfully authorised or empowered to hear the instant complaint. Having considered those preliminary objections, Pemra sought the opinion of the Ministry of Law on the legal objections raised. Akram Sheikh did not submit response on merit of the complaint.

C. Now that the authority has received the legal opinion from the Ministry of Law, it must comply with Section 30(3) to afford the answering respondent the opportunity to submit its reply to the complaint on merit. It is thus that the Authority is requested to give the answering respondent reasonable time for right of hearing, without which any decision taken by the Authority will be legally flawed and an abuse of power.

D. Lastly, in the interest of justice and fair play, we wish to place on record the undisputed fact that the following three members of the Authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fariha Iftikhar, have disqualified themselves from sitting as a judge and to adjudicate on the issue in question because they have repeatedly, through press conferences and also through various live interviews on different rival TV channels, vowed that they would revoke Geo News licence. All these three members are not only biased but hostile, they have each prejudged the matter even before the meeting of the Authority and hence they are not entitled to participate in the discussion, cast their votes and thus decide this matter.

Any decision taken against the answering respondents that is based on the votes casted by these three biased and hostile members shall not be sustainable under law. As a result of their hostile interviews and expression of their hatred and anger against answering respondent, the said members have rendered themselves incapacitated from taking any part in relation to the complaint as they have prejudged the fate of the complaint.

It is the duty of the Authority to exclude these members from the proceedings to ensure that the right of the answering respondents to a fair trial as guaranteed under Article 10A of the Constitution.

E. Therefore, the ex-officio and other members of Pemra are kindly requested to restrain Pemra from initiating any actions without referring the complaint to the Council of Complaints where the answering respondent is yet to make submissions on merits.

Courts block moves against Jang Group, Geo

 

 

ISLAMABAD: Similar petitions filed against the Jang Group and Geo in different parts of the country were blocked by the courts on Monday.
In Islamabad, Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the order of an Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) and Justice of Peace Muhammad Jehangir Awan who had directed the Islamabad police on May 3 to register an FIR against Geo officials and journalist Amir Mir.

In Rawalpindi, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench, dismissed a petition and an application of a private person seeking Pemra to proceed against Geo TV.

In Bahawalpur, District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Rasheed Qamar dismissed on Monday a petition under Section 22-A for the registration of an FIR against Geo TV and the Jang Group. It was filed by one Ghulam Abbas, a resident of Bankers Colony, Bahawalpur.

In Faisalabad, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muzaffar Hussain Gul disposed of a petition submitted by Arshad Ali Awan advocate for the registration of a case against Geo News.

In Lahore, Additional District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Abbas Sial directed the SHO concerned to proceed strictly in accordance with the law.The Islamabad High Court bench also issued notices to the respondents in the two applications challenging the order of the ADSJ.

Faisal Iqbal Khan, Amir Abdullah Abbasi and Behzad Haider, legal counsel for the Geo officials and Amir Mir, contended before the court that the petitioner has no locus standi and the Ministry of Defence has already lodged a complaint with Pemra in this regard.

They argued that to file a complaint, it is necessary to access the police for registration of an FIR before coming to court. A station house officer (SHO) had intimated the ADSJ that the police received no such application but even then the judge ordered the registration of an FIR.

The lawyers argued that the attack on Hamid Mir was also outside the territorial jurisdiction of Islamabad.Meanwhile, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench, dismissed a petition and an application of a private person seeking Pemra to proceed against Geo TV under Sections 27, 30, 33 and 34 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002 and against the Ministry of Interior for lodging a complaint in terms of Section 196 CrPC against the management of the Geo TV network.

The petitioner through another application sought from the court to direct Pemra to stop Geo TV from airing programmes allegedly against the ‘sensitive’ institutions.LHC Rawalpindi Bench, however, dismissed both petitions and a detailed judgment is yet to come.

Petitioner Syed Khalil Hussain Shah Kazmi, a resident of Jhelum, made Pemra, the federation through the interior and information secretaries, Geo TV and the Ministry of Defence through its secretary respondents. He described himself as a social worker.

The petitioner alleged Geo TV has violated the provisions of the Pemra Ordinance. “Controversial and objectionable programmes” telecast by Geo TV after the attack on Hamid Mir are also covered by section 120-A, 120-B, 121 and 123-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), he contented.

The petitioner said that it is the primary duty of the federal government to defend and protect national institutions, particularly the institutions of national security and the armed forces.

The petitioner pleaded that the government should have not only ensured proceedings under the Pemra Ordinance but also launched a complaint under Sections 196 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) against the management of Geo TV and others. The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the Ministry of Interior to lodge a complaint in terms of Section 196 CrPC against the management of the Geo TV network.

Ameen Abbasi adds from Bahawalpur: District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Rasheed Qamar dismissed a petition under Section 22-A for registration of an FIR against Geo TV and the Jang Group filed by one Ghulam Abbas, a resident of Bankers Colony, Bahawalpur, on Monday.

Before dismissing the petition in preliminary arguments, the judge asked the petitioner and his counsel, Zafar Iqbal Awan, whether the petitioner is an aggrieved person, and what locus standi he has for moving this application. He also asked if the two petitions about the same occurrence, filed by different persons before the Islamabad High Court and Sindh High Court, have been dismissed or not.

The judge asked whether the governement has not already moved an application to Pemra and whether a high-powered judicial commission, comprising three Supreme Court judges, has not been constituted for a judicial probe into the same matter. When the counsel was not in a position to explain the status of the petitioner and stated that he has no knowledge about it, the judge dismissed the petition.

The court observed that the petitioner, being a private person, has no locus standi to file this petition and ordered for filing the petition to the record room.

Our correspondent adds from Faisalabad: Faisalabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Muzaffar Hussain Gul on Monday disposed of a petition submitted by Arshad Ali Awan advocate for the registration of a case against Geo News.

The court asked Arshad to contact Pemra which was the appropriate forum. The Sargodha Road police told the court that the incident did not take place in their jurisdiction. So a case could not be registered on this application. After hearing the police version, the court disposed of the petition.

In the petition, Arshad took the stance that the army and the ISI had been ridiculed against the backdrop of an attack on Hamid Mir. The petitioner said he contacted the police for the registration of the case and submitted the petition after the police refused to file it.

The petition had made the Faisalabad capital police officer, Amir Mir, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Geo directors and the Sargodha Road SHO party to the case. Our Correspondent adds from Lahore: Additional District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Abbas Sial on Monday directed the SHO concerned to record the statement of the petitioner on the plea seeking the registration of a criminal case against the management of Geo News, Amir Mir (brother of Hamid Mir) and other group officials.

The judge directed the SHO Islampura to record the statement of the petitioner and proceed strictly in accordance with the law if any cognizable offence was made.Earlier, the SHO Islampura had submitted his statement contending that the matter did not fall in his jurisdiction, while there had also been no cognizable offence. He had said a commission had been constituted on the issue and police could not take any initiative before the findings of that commission. The application which was submitted to him was not maintainable, the SHO added. Moreover, the competent authority in the matter was the Defence Ministry which filed a complaint before Pemra — the competent forum to redress the points raised by the petitioner.

The Geo News counsel, Salman Faisal, had argued that according to the Pemra Act, no petition could be filed; therefore, the application had no standing and was not maintainable.As per the case details, the petitioner, Aftab Virk, had alleged in his petition that Amir Mir intentionally spoke against a state institution without any solid evidence.

Moves on to weaken independent media, democracy

ISLAMABAD: The intriguing but matching timing of an attack on the most influential media group in Pakistan — the Jang/Geo Group — and the street agitation of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) have raised many eyebrows here.

This situation raises the fundamental question of whether the stage is being set to hurt the democratic process and make the civilian leadership dance to the tune of the military establishment.

On the one hand the independent media is being muzzled through coercion, division and harassment; on the other people are being encouraged to come onto the streets to express their discontent with the system.

In a calculated fashion, the post-Hamid Mir attack scenario is being created in a manner where Geo and the Jang Group are portrayed as anti-army and anti-Pakistan. Such a manoeuvre would help discredit the most influential media house of the country, which is known for its contribution towards the rule of law, the upholding of the Constitution, democracy and an independent judiciary.

Damaging the Geo and Jang Group means hitting the freedom of the press in Pakistan and making it so vulnerable that the media cannot effectively serve as a protector of democracy, the independent judiciary and the rule of law. During recent weeks, certain players of the military establishment have already succeeded in badly dividing, like never before, the media of Pakistan.

With such serious divisions being created within the Pakistani media, political entities like the PTI, PML-Q and PAT etc. are already out to support the Pakistan Army and the ISI in what has been smartly created as a fight between the army and the Jang Group despite the latter’s repeated statements that it respects the institutions of the Pakistan Army and ISI.

Some proscribed organisations have also been pushed to hold demonstrations to get the Jang-Geo Group discredited.While such efforts are continuing to weaken the independent media in Pakistan through “tamed media” and “political allies”, the political situation of the country is also being vitiated through street agitations and protests. Though the announcement of the PTI and PAT protest campaigns from May 11, 2014 seem disconnected, not many believe this. Already discussions are under way if Imran and Qadri could join hands for the “reformation” of the system. The PML-Q is also expected to join in.

As against the serious doubts about the PAT linkages with the military establishment, Imran Khan’s PTI had better credentials till recently when it surprised all and sundry initially by reiterating the ISI’s serious charges against the Jang/Geo group. It furthered such doubts by levelling what could be termed as hilarious allegations of rigging on the Jang and Geo group and announcing to hold a rally on May 11 in Islamabad. May 11 is also the countrywide demonstration day for the PAT.

Leading political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP), have already lashed out at the PTI for its call to protest against the alleged rigging at this point of time.

The PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said Imran Khan’s move to resort to protest the alleged rigging was incomprehensible after one year of the elections. The PPP leader said it was his party’s formal stance that it will not become part of any protest rallies. Many in the PPP see it as an effort to derail the democratic system.

According to media reports, the PPP leaders held in-depth discussions on the protest politics of the PTI and ongoing rallies in the country aimed at destabilising the elected government. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah was also quoted to have said in a press talk that those who were used to bring out sponsored rallies in the past are now active and it is not a good omen for the country. Shah added that these rallies are being sponsored and not being taken out on their own as those who are behind these rallies have their own agenda.

The ANP leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the PTI chief Imran Khan should not indulge in the politics of opportunism. The PML-N leader and Punjab Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah is quoted to have said that the PTI and PAT have planned to launch an agitation movement on ‘someone’s’ directives.

Robertson moves into world quarter-finals

SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom: Australia´s Neil Robertson booked his place in the quarter-finals of this year´s World Championships with a 13-7 win over Mark Allen on Monday only to barely miss out on a notable landmark.

The world number one was left stranded on 99 competitive century breaks for the season, with Robertson still one shy of becoming the first man to compile 100 hundreds in a single tour campaign.

Melbourne-born Robertson, the 2010 world champion, resumed with an overnight 9-7 lead and then made breaks of 59 and 69 to pull further in front against his Northern Irish opponent.

Remarkably, Robertson succumbed to something akin to cricket´s ´nervous nineties´ in the next two frames when he missed pots after recording breaks of 94 and 92 respectively, although both those efforts were more than enough to be frame-winners.

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was in the commentary box and Robertson, who long ago surpassed Judd Trump´s record of 63 hundreds in a tour season, was disappointed not to have reached his 100th century in front of the Scottish snooker great.

Robertson will play Trump in the last eight after the Englishman defeated Wales´s Ryan Day 13-7.

Former champion Shaun Murphy will take on title-holder Ronnie O´Sullivan in the last eight after completing a 13-8 win over Hong Kong´s Marco Fu.Resuming at 9-7, 2005 world champion Murphy won the first three frames of Monday´s evening session before Fu halted his chance with a break of 92 only for the Englishman to win the next and set up a clash with O´Sullivan, bidding for a sixth world title.

Earlier on Monday, Wales´s Dominic Dale took the frame he needed to secure a 13-4 win over Michael Wasley, the shock first-round conqueror of China´s Ding Junhui.Dale will play Barry Hawkins, last year´s losing finalist, in the quarter-finals, with the remaining last-eight tie seeing veteran Alan McManus up against Mark Selby. (AFP)

Robertson moves into world quarter-finals

SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom: Australia´s Neil Robertson booked his place in the quarter-finals of this year´s World Championships with a 13-7 win over Mark Allen on Monday only to barely miss out on a notable landmark.

The world number one was left stranded on 99 competitive century breaks for the season, with Robertson still one shy of becoming the first man to compile 100 hundreds in a single tour campaign.

Melbourne-born Robertson, the 2010 world champion, resumed with an overnight 9-7 lead and then made breaks of 59 and 69 to pull further in front against his Northern Irish opponent.

Remarkably, Robertson succumbed to something akin to cricket´s ´nervous nineties´ in the next two frames when he missed pots after recording breaks of 94 and 92 respectively, although both those efforts were more than enough to be frame-winners.

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was in the commentary box and Robertson, who long ago surpassed Judd Trump´s record of 63 hundreds in a tour season, was disappointed not to have reached his 100th century in front of the Scottish snooker great.

Robertson will play Trump in the last eight after the Englishman defeated Wales´s Ryan Day 13-7.

Former champion Shaun Murphy will take on title-holder Ronnie O´Sullivan in the last eight after completing a 13-8 win over Hong Kong´s Marco Fu.Resuming at 9-7, 2005 world champion Murphy won the first three frames of Monday´s evening session before Fu halted his chance with a break of 92 only for the Englishman to win the next and set up a clash with O´Sullivan, bidding for a sixth world title.

Earlier on Monday, Wales´s Dominic Dale took the frame he needed to secure a 13-4 win over Michael Wasley, the shock first-round conqueror of China´s Ding Junhui.Dale will play Barry Hawkins, last year´s losing finalist, in the quarter-finals, with the remaining last-eight tie seeing veteran Alan McManus up against Mark Selby. (AFP)