DAB+: A PROGRAMMED AND ORGANIZED TECHNICAL OBSOLESCENCE TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE

Even if he doesn’t want to buy a new radio, because his is still working fine, the Belgian will be forced to do so within a few years at the latest. To achieve this, our beloved media have brought out the artillery and to start with an impressive first media plan for the promotion of DAB+⁽¹⁾. This one started this November 4, 2019. Composed of television, radio and digital spots, for a recognized value of more than 1.200.000€, it is coordinated by maRadio.be, thanks to the contributions in advertising space of the 15 participating FM networks, RTL Belgium and RTBF with their 6 television channels, as well as RTBF Auvio and RTL Play. Not to mention that 17,000 copies of an « explanatory » folder will be distributed in stores, run by « DAB+ ambassadors », so that sales staff and their customers are « as well informed as possible about this new radio technology ».

We are simply dealing with heavy artillery with the declared objective of pushing Belgians to leave FM for DAB+ as soon as possible. « In the end, we are promised, — at the earliest in five years — DAB+ will become the standard and FM will disappear. (…) « In some countries, a timetable is being drawn up for the end of FM when digital (DAB+, Internet, television) reaches 50% of consumption⁽²⁾ « . This plan obviously omits to talk about what is wrong, namely, the programmed technical obsolescence of millions of radios! At a time when everyone, hand on heart, declares its willingness to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it produces to try to stop the disastrous effects of climate change⁽³⁾! Look for the error. However, it has been known for a long time that we can no longer ignore the calculation of grey energy, i.e. the energy required to manufacture and dismantle a product, when making investment decisions. This is far from being negligible since it frequently represents two thirds of our global energy consumption! A study of the ULB⁽⁴⁾ specifies that, in the energy consumption of an average household, 37% concerns the direct consumption and 63% the energy « contained » in the products. This omission is totally unbearable and particularly inadmissible on the part of the media, including several so-called public service media, which declare their vocation to inform us. This is why we have decided to file a complaint with the CSA and the Jury of Advertising Ethics with these words:

- Believing, like the UN and other supranational and national organizations, that the protection of the environment must be a top priority to give humans a chance to live on a sustainable planet;
- Believing that all the information media have the responsibility to give correct and complete information to our fellow citizens and that in this respect we cannot be satisfied with a truncated advertising campaign;
- Observing that, according to the general principles that all commercial communication must respect, « In terms of content, whether broadcast on linear or non-linear services, commercial communication may not encourage behaviour that is seriously prejudicial to the protection of the environment⁽⁵⁾ « ;
- Observing that the DAB+ campaign does not respect its obligation to make its commercial communication easily identifiable, since it uses the same words and slogans in the commercials and in the so-called news programs;

We demand that the DAB+ campaign be stopped immediately, that a press release be issued about the infringement and that the news media be obliged to provide correct information about the grey energy involved in the switch to DAB+.

Thank you for taking our complaints into consideration.

Signatories
André Sterckx, engineer; Michèle Gilkinet, former federal deputy; Jean Pierre Wilmotte, citizen and co-founder of mpOC (Mouvement politique des objecteurs de croissance); Françoise Meuleman, daily listener of La Première; Paul Lannoye, physicist and president of GRAPPE; Alain Adriaens, former regional deputy; Olivier De Schutter, professor at UCLouvain; Alexandre Penasse, editor of the newspaper Kairos; Ezio Gandin, physicist and ex-president of Friends of the Earth — Belgium; Bernard Legros, teacher and essayist; Francis Leboutte, civil engineer; Philippe Raway, Eco-advisor; Christian Savestre, journalist at POUR.press, member of Attac 2 Brussels, Fiscal Justice Network and Acid; Michel Dehon; Christine Decantere; Robert Goedertier, physicist; Christine Pagnoulle, ATTAC Liège; Corinne Michel, ATTAC Liège; Valéry Witsel, permanent education animator, ex-professor of French and history; With the support of Friends of the Earth, mpOC, Mouvement politique des Objecteurs de Croissance, and ATTAC Liège

Contact address : michele.gilkinet@gmail.com, 9, ruelle du Sablon, 1495
Villers-la-Ville, 071 876 779