Satra Competitive Rules is for economic and media protection

Fars News Agency – Art Group: The Cyber-Audio Media Regulatory Organization, abbreviated as “Satra”, was established on the basis of a communiqué dated 06/22/94 to the then President, as the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. “Organizing the field of audio and video in order to support service providers and ensure the rights of users”, “Accelerate, facilitate and clarify the process and process of licensing providers of audio and video services in cyberspace”, “Increase business and facilitate For activists in the field of universal audio and video “,” Investigation of complaints and violations reported by the public in cyberspace “,” Preparation, regulation and approval of regulations, executive procedures, practical instructions “,” Support and mobilization in the field of content production and services and Creating social vitality to increase the exchange of domestic traffic information and reduce international traffic “and” increasing the number of international users and the use of the best content in the world by Iranian users “are among the tasks of Satra.

Satra claims that his approach is to fully support audio-visual media activists as a front line in the fight and defense of the country’s “media sovereignty” against international giants. has taken.

However, the guidelines and decisions communicated by this organization are sometimes controversial. For example, on the one hand, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance was the authority to issue licenses for serials in cyberspace, and on the other hand, Satra considered it its duty to do so.

The responsibility for issuing licenses and regulating and regulating universal audio and video is solely the responsibility of the Radio and Television of Iran; What “Satra” is doing and with the approval of the parliament, it has billions of tomans of budget for this work this year. In February of last year, Siam appointed the head of the Radio and Television Organization, Saeed Moghiseh, as his deputy and head of the Organization for the Regulation of Comprehensive Audio and Video in Cyberspace (Satra); This position was previously held by Seyyed Sadegh Emamian.

Satra’s activities under the auspices of the radio make it difficult for other platforms to compete with television and its proprietary platform, Telebion ،, as we see numerous televisions advertised on television but no room for other platforms. Of course, smaller platforms welcome competitive balance and justice between the media, because, for example, on Nowruz 1401, a number of films and series containing 98 episodes in various genres, taken from works produced by Satra Radio and Television, are available to licensed media. Satra was placed. But major platforms are critical of this situation; In particular, an instruction has recently been issued by Satra, which sets out the “requirements for competition in the pervasive audio and video markets.”

In this regulation, which is explained with the aim of preventing the creation of media monopoly, a healthy and fair atmosphere of economic competition as well as the development of media justice, is considered and with the focus on Sharif University of Technology governing think tank and using the opinions of experts in this field. Has been. In these requirements, the principle has been that the content of the law “Implementation of Article 44 policies” should be the criterion of action, except in cases where the law due to economic and legal principles of competition or new rules of platform markets (two-way) has a defect or defect. That content has been completed or revised. Satra has also announced that it will cooperate with all relevant and involved institutions in this field, such as the Competition Council, the National Cyberspace Center, and others. Will use.

To clarify the dimensions of this issue with Amir Ahmad Zolfaghari, We talked to the faculty member of Imam Sadegh (AS) University and the head of Satra’s competitive design team. Mohammad Sadegh Farahani, Mohammad Mehdi Jafarian and Reza Ghasemipour also accompanied Zolfaghari in compiling these regulations.

The announcement of Satra’s competitive rules has provoked numerous reactions. One of the objections to this is that Satra should not have gotten into it. As the person in charge of the design team for these regulations, what is your response?

Satra is the regulator of the ubiquitous audio and video media market in cyberspace. The principle of this issue is based on a set of legal documents that have been announced in detail by this organization. So we will no longer dwell on the principle that Satra is regulatory in this area and assume it. Regulation refers to a set of rules and actions that are performed in the public interest. In relation to the public interest, many issues have been raised so far and indicators have been provided to measure it. The public interest is made up of components that can be defined in various economic, political, cultural, and other fields.

One of the important dimensions of public interest is the subject of economics, which according to the literature of economics, the main dimension of which is the subject of competition. That is, if there is a competitive environment in the market, there are many benefits to the public, including increasing the quality and reducing the price of products. In a competitive environment, there are no special privileges for specific groups, and business opportunities are fairly distributed, and individuals thrive in proportion to their capacities and talents in the business. Therefore, one of the important tasks of the regulatory body, which is responsible for protecting the public interest, is to protect the competitive environment.

Thus, when Satra is responsible for regulating the ubiquitous audio and video media market, it is also primarily responsible for safeguarding the competitive environment. Regulatory actions are carried out in various ways, one of which is the regulation and communication of rules and regulations, and the recent communication of Satra has been in this direction.

* What was the process of drafting these regulations?

Competition regulation is not a new phenomenon in the world and there are many examples; Both the general rules and regulations of competition and the partial rules of competition. In other words, in the world, there are general regulations regarding the competitive environment of the economy, during which competitive issues are generally addressed, and there are also competitive regulations that have been enacted in part, taking into account the specific considerations of the sector in question. For this reason, in order to formulate regulations in this field, first a comprehensive study was conducted both in the field of scientific issues in this field and in relation to the regulations established in different countries. شد.

In the next step This is a draft It was left to the opinion of various academic and executive experts, and their points and considerations were taken, and finally the final version was submitted to the High Commission for Regulation of Audio-Visual Media in Cyberspace, where it was approved.

Of course, the final approved text differs from the original draft version, but its original structure has been preserved.

* What is the content structure of these regulations?

In world competition law, after defining the market, the indicators of “market power” and “dominant market position” are usually defined and specified. After that, anti-competitive behaviors are usually dealt with and the rules governing such behaviors are established. In addition, issues such as “government support” that may disrupt competition are generally addressed. Finally, there is the competition procedure and the mechanism for dealing with competitive violations.

The same pattern was tried to be followed in the formulation of competition regulations. In this regard, an attempt was made to take into account the specific competitive considerations in the field of audio and video media, and issues such as the network effect and the gatekeeper media were also addressed. Of course, as I said, not all of the issues raised in the draft are in the final version of the rules, but its original structure has been preserved.

* How do you assess the reactions to these regulations? Because the main subject of Satra فعالیت’s activity is still in question.

Among all the reactions to these regulations, I saw almost no substantive criticism. All the criticisms were related to the principle of Satra’s regulation, which was discussed in its place, and the legal basis for Satra’s entry into this field was stated. But in terms of content, since a very high degree of study and precision was used in formulating the regulations, the text is quite defensible.

In Iran, the General Policy Implementation Law of Article 44 of the Constitution deals with the issue of competition, and Articles 44 and 45 refer to anti-competitive practices, and structures such as the Competition Council and the Deregulation Board are envisaged to protect the competitive environment. It deals with the issue of competition in general. There is no partial and specialized entry into the issue of competition in the sectors in the laws and regulations of the country, and these regulations are the first specialized regulations in the competition sector, and therefore it is an important step towards the development of competition regulation in Iran.

I hope that the proper implementation of these regulations will be provided so that we can see its positive effects in the market of universal audio and video media in cyberspace.

End of message /