Monday, September 23, 2013

Death of a Convention: Competition between the Council of Europe and EC in broadcasting law

ingentaconnect Death of a Convention: Competition between the Council of Europe ...: "This article considers a dispute between the European Union and Council of Europe regarding their respective roles in the broadcasting field, so as to explain and assess its relevance for the development at the international level of media law and policy. The dispute is a long-running one and dates back to the adoption of the first EEC Directive and Council Convention on this subject in 1989. It is argued that the expansion of the scope of EU broadcasting law and the consolidation of the European Commission's role in external affairs left little room for the Council to continue to exercise influence over the regulation of the electronic media in the way it has done for some time. The exact nature of the dispute between the institutions, and the response of a vocal member state, is ascertained through consideration of published minutes and internal correspondence, set in the context of doctrinal and political developments. The article concludes with analysis of possible future actions for the Council."

'via Blog this'

Monday, June 24, 2013

The death of the Transfrontier Television Directive

"In a letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms Neelie Kroes, vice-President of the European Commission, recently confirmed the position of the European Commission with regard to the draft second amended protocol to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. The letter underlines that the European Union has exclusive competence for the issues covered by the draft revised Convention and that EU member States are not allowed to become party to the Convention on their own. The letter furthermore indicates that the EU does not intend to become a party to the Convention as this would constrain the speed and scope of any future policy response in the areas covered.
For its part, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe endorsed proposals by the Secretary General for priorities in 2011 which included, in particular, to discontinue work on trans-frontier television following the termination of the negotiations of the Convention. This was confirmed by the Committee of Ministers when adopting the Programme of Activities and budget for 2011." 'via Blog this'

Monday, January 21, 2013

Playboy fined £100,000 for failing to protect children

Ofcom | Playboy fined £100,000 for failing to protect children: "Ofcom has today fined Playboy £100,000 for failing to protect children from potentially harmful pornographic material.
Two websites owned by Playboy (Playboy TV and Demand Adult) allowed users to access hardcore videos and images without having acceptable controls in place to check that users were aged 18 or over.
Unlike other pornographic websites, these websites are regulated by Ofcom and its concurrent regulator, the Authority for Video On Demand (ATVOD). This is because they provide access to videos in a similar way to adult services broadcast on television – and fall within UK jurisdiction.
Ofcom concluded that Playboy’s failure to protect children from potentially accessing these sites was serious, repeated and reckless." 'via Blog this'