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On 18 December 2017, the Telekom-Control-Kommission (Telecom Control Commission - TKK), Austria’s regulatory body for the telecommunications market, decided that the ‘Free Stream’ telecommunications service provided by A1 does not violate net neutrality. ‘Free Stream’ is a so-called zero-rating service, which means that data is streamed to customers for specific services free of charge. Users can stream videos and music from specific partners (for example, YouTube or Spotify) without the data coming out of the allowance stipulated under their contract. After the service was notified to the TKK,...

In a decision of 12 October 2017, the Austrian Verfassungsgerichtshof (Constitutional Court) ruled that the legislator was entitled to exempt Internet advertisers from paying the advertising tax levied on print media and radio ads (case no. E 2025/2016-16). The decision was taken in response to a total of 23 complaints from newspaper and magazine publishers and radio stations, who had claimed that the advertising tax was discriminatory and that the 2000 Advertising Tax Act was unconstitutional. According to Article 1(1) and (2) of the Act, the advertising tax applies to advertising services provided...

In a case against Austria, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) decided that a satirical report aired during a comedy show on television that allegedly tarnished the reputation of a high-ranking and controversial politician had not violated the politician’s right to private life, as guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR is of the opinion that the Austrian courts struck a fair balance between the competing interests in the case, in finding that the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR had outweighed the politician’s...

The Austrian media regulator, KommAustria, has decided that the takeover of the ATV and ATV2 television channels by operator ProSiebenSat.1Puls4 GmbH does not contravene the relevant provisions of Austrian broadcasting and media concentration law and has therefore given the takeover the green light. KommAustria had to check, firstly, whether the operator would still be able to broadcast in accordance with broadcasting law and, secondly, whether the new company would breach media concentration law. When examining whether the takeover conformed with broadcasting law, the regulator had to ensure first...

In a decision of 21 February 2017 (case no. 4 Ob 137/16z), the Oberste Gerichtshof (Supreme Court) ruled that the courts of the state in which satellite broadcasts are received have jurisdiction to hear complaints about copyright breaches relating to works from the catalogue of a collecting society based in the receiving state. An Austrian collecting society filed a complaint with the national courts about a Luxembourg-based company, claiming an injunction and financial compensation because the company had offered customers in Austria access to encrypted and unencrypted television programmes broadcast...