Jamaica Issues New TV Rules

Wednesday, July 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) â€” Moving to bring Jamaica in line with international intellectual property laws, the government has ordered cable operators to stop illegal pickups of U.S. pay-per-view channels and other satellite broadcasts.

Those who ignore the order, effective Wednesday, face a fine of $1,500 or three months imprisonment and could have their licenses suspended, said Ian Miles, executive director of the government Broadcasting Commission.

Most of the Caribbean island's 37 cable TV operators are broadcasting a pay-per-view movie channel and other stations picked up from Direct TV satellite broadcasts in the United States without permits, Miles said.

``We are not waiting for somebody to contact us before we take the action,'' he explained. ``We know what the law requires in terms of intellectual property compliance ... this is a global issue.''