Germany

[DE] Rules on Freedom of Access to Digital Services Put to Final Vote

IRIS 2000-7:1/18

Wolfram Schnur

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

After hearing the views of those involved and taking into consideration the statements that had been submitted, the Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (Conference of Regional Media Authority DirectorsDLM) has established rules on freedom of access to digital services on the basis of Article 53.7 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Agreement between Federal States on Broadcasting). The rules had previously been submitted in draft form on 21 February 2000 (see IRIS 2000-3: 11). The version that was finally adopted also mentioned the unbundling of API (Application Programming Interface) and CAS (Conditional Access Services). A new addition was the fact that, through the possibility of using Conditional Access Services with a Common Interface Module, the requirement for accessible interfaces was sufficiently met (Rule 13.1.3). The amended rules also stipulate that technical services and subscriber management services should be offered unbundled (Rule 13.1.4). Mention is also made of the MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) standard, which is based on the programming language JAVA. The MHP standard is expressly referred to in Rule 13.2.2 as a state-of-the-art programming interface based on common European standards. The rules, which await the approval of the individual regional media authorities, are expected to enter into force on 1 November 2000.