Virgin Media 2010 Annual Report Download - page 35

Our operations, facilities, products and employees are subject to a wide range of health and safety regulations
and concerns.
We are subject to certain environmental, health and safety laws and regulations that affect our operations,
facilities and products. We believe that it we are in compliance in all material respects with applicable
environmental, health and safety laws and regulations related to our operations, facilities, products, employees
and business activities and have adequate measures in place to ensure that our affiliates, vendors and contractors
comply with all environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. However, in spite of these measures, there
is a risk that we may have to incur expenditures to cover environmental and health liabilities to maintain
compliance with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations or to undertake any
necessary remediation.
Digital video recorders such as the TiVo enabled box could be the subject of future regulation relating to
copyright law or evolving industry standards and practices that could adversely impact our business.
DVRs, and in particular the TiVo set-top box with associated software (including middleware), represent a
part of our strategy to bring about convergence of our various platforms. In the future, copyright statutes or case
law could be changed to adversely impact our business by restricting the ability of consumers to temporally or
spatially shift copyrighted materials for their own personal use. Our business could be harmed as a result. In
addition, if there is an attempt in the future to require companies in the digital video recorder industry to obtain
copyright or other licenses, this could result in costs which are passed along to us and could delay widespread
consumer acceptance of our TiVo offering, restrict our use of some television content, increase our costs, and
adversely affect our business.
We are subject to significant regulation and changes in U.K. and EU laws, regulations or governmental policy
affecting the conduct of our business may have a material adverse effect on our ability to set prices, enter new
markets or control our costs.
Our principal business activities are regulated and supervised by Ofcom and the U.K. Office of Fair
Trading, among other regulators. Regulatory change is an ongoing process in the communications sector at both
the U.K. and the EU level. Changes in laws, regulations or governmental policy affecting our activities and those
of our competitors could significantly influence how we operate our business and introduce new products and
services. For example, regulatory changes relating to our activities and those of our competitors, such as changes
relating to third party access to cable networks, the costs of interconnection with other networks or the prices of
competing products and services, or any change in policy allowing more favorable conditions for other operators,
could adversely affect our ability to set prices, enter new markets or control our costs. In particular following the
transposition of recent amendments to the European directives into UK law, Ofcom may attempt to use the
non-significant market power, or non-SMP, access provisions to require us to make available access to our
network to third parties. Our ability to introduce new products and services may also be affected if we cannot
predict how existing or future laws, regulations or policies would apply to such products or services. In addition,
our business and the industry in which we operate are subject to investigation by regulators, which could lead to
enforcement actions, fines and penalties or the assertion of private litigation claims and damages. Any such
action could harm our reputation and result in increased costs to the business.
Concerns about health risks associated with wireless equipment may reduce the demand for our services.
Portable communications devices have been alleged to pose health risks, including cancer, due to radio
frequency emissions from these devices. Class actions and other lawsuits have been filed against numerous
wireless carriers, seeking not only damages but also remedies that could increase our cost of doing business. We
cannot be sure of the outcome of those cases or that our business and financial condition will not be adversely
affected by litigation of this nature or public perception about health risks. The actual or perceived risk of mobile
communications devices could adversely affect us through a reduction in subscribers, reduced network usage per
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