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The European Commission has approved the tariffs suggested by the Dutch Telecom Regulator Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit (Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority - OPTA). Two Dutch cable operators, UPC and Ziggo, are now obliged to charge other providers a fixed price, set by OPTA, for their products. These alternative providers can then resell the acquired analogue radio and TV signals to their customers. On 19 August 2008, OPTA held a national consultation on its plans for opening up cable networks in the Netherlands. OPTA intended to encourage lower price levels...

The Dutch Copyright Act (‘Auteurswet’) is the guardian of the cultural heritage in the Netherlands. The Act grants protection to the creators of literary, scientific, artistic and many more types of work. In 1803, under the so-called ‘Book Act’ (‘Boekenwet’), publishers were protected against the reproduction of their books and music by other publishers. During the period when the Netherlands formed part of the French empire (1810-1813), the subject of protection changed in accordance with French law and copyright became a right of the author. The first Dutch Copyright Act dates back to 1817. Under...

On 22 October 2009, the Amsterdam District Court ordered The Pirate Bay to remove a list of torrents that link to copyright-protected works in the Netherlands and to make these torrents on its websites inaccessible for Internet users in the Netherlands, on penalty of EUR 5,000 per day, the maximum possible fine being EUR 3,000,000. The court annulled the default judgment it had issued on 30 July 2009 in the summary proceedings brought against The Pirate Bay by the Bescherming Rechten Entertainment Industrie Nederland (Protection Rights Entertainment Industry Netherlands - BREIN), the Dutch rightsholders’...

On 8 October 2009, the European Commission decided to close an infringement procedure against Germany relating to European “must-carry” provisions, as set out in the Universal Services Directive. The Directive forms part of the EU’s Telecoms Package, which is currently under revision. Under the Directive, Member States are obliged to ensure a minimum level of availability and affordability of basic services, as well as a basic set of rights for the benefit of European consumers. According to Article 31, proportionate and transparent “must-carry” rules can be set for clearly defined general interest...

The Dutch district court of Utrecht has ruled against the popular torrent website Mininova, in a case brought by anti-piracy organisation BREIN. The court concluded that Mininova had acted unlawfully by structurally providing the means for, encouraging and profiting from infringements of copyright and related rights and, moreover, that it is not protected under the hosting safe harbour of the E-Commerce Directive. Mininova was not held liable for direct copyright infringement. The website has been ordered to remove all torrents for protected works within 3 months and is considering an appeal. The...