element in their operations.
Holding the balance.
10. Mr. Hobley said that the Hong Kong Government was
seeking a just solution and he sought confirmation from the
meeting that the solution they proposed was indeed just.
Asked by the Chairman whether it would in fact be to the
disadvantage of H.K.T.V. if R.T.V. relayed their programmes,
he said he would not have thought so. Mr. Davis pointed out
that, if they were allowed to relay, R.T.V. would in effect be
converting the 625 line H.K.T.V. transmissions to 405 lines,
thus making it possible for owners of the latter type of set
to receive it.
11. In answer to a question from Mr. Davis, Mr. Hobley agreed
that H.K.T.V. would in fact like to drive R.T.V. out of
business, and he agreed with the Chairman that it should be
Government's aim to "hold the ring".
12. The Chairman asked what would be the situation if R.T.V.
were given a right to relay H.K.T.V. programmes by contract.
Advertisers would then know which of their advertisements
(placed on H.K.T.V.) were also being relayed by R.T.V.
Mr. Hobley acknowledged that, as matters stood, H.K.T.V. would
have, (under Section 4(2)), complete control over the relay of
their programmes and would not in fact be obliged to agree to
any relays.
Copyright legislation.
13. Mr. Oxley had pointed out early in the meeting that it was
unusual to use copyright legislation in order to restrict
rights under a licence. He wondered if this was in fact the
right way to do it. We were faced with an unusual situation,
insofar as the modified U.K. Act was, under the Hong Kong
proposals, to be further modified by a separate operation.
14.
Answering the Chairman, Mr. Oxley said that we had indeed
the power to disallow the proposed legislation. He added that
he was not happy about the way in which Section 4(2) gave H.K.T.V.
"the whip hand" over all relays. He wondered if a clause
/could