Viusasa responds to President Kenyattas order

The management of Content Aggregation Limited (CAL), the company that owns Viusasa and is a content provider for Skiza, and Royal Media Services, the parent company to Citizen TV, have welcomed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive on content regulation.

The Managing Director George Waititu dispelled fears that the President’s directive spells doom for the video on demand platform.

Waititu says President Kenyatta’s call for regulations couldn’t have come at a better time.

The president did not say Viusasa or Skiza is going to be closed. Far far from it, what he said is that he is going to change the structure that governs Viusasa… In other words today if you are a musician and you have a song and you would like to put it on Skiza, you will have to go through a licensed intermediary,” said Waititu.

“The Head of State wants to restructure so that a musician can choose if he wants to bring his content direct or via a intermediary.”

In his public address on Tuesday morning, President Kenyatta announced changes to the collection structures for content service providers that will require all right holders register on the National Rights Registry.

“Regarding Content Service Providers, my intent is to support the sector using a multi-pronged approach. Content Service Providers who work with digital platforms such as SKIZA and Viusasa, will be eliminated. And this is because they sit outside the Collection Management Organisations. My practical direction on this is to have all rights holders register on the National Rights Registry,” said the President.