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As of 6 October 2006, the rules concerning side tasks and sideline activities in the Media Act and the Media Decree have changed. Side tasks, such as internet sites and thematic channels, have to be in service of the public broadcasting mission. According to the Media Act, public broadcasting programme services shall provide a balanced picture of society and of people’s current interests and reflect views pertaining to society, culture, religion and belief. The old regime for side tasks, in particular, had to be adapted because it did not comply with European regulation and did not provide adequate...

In an explanatory letter to Parliament, the minister of Education, Culture and Science has responded to the findings of three different studies that have recently been completed. The first of these studies is a report by TNO (an independent research organisation) about the future of commercials in a digital television landscape. This report concludes that in order to retain their current position and influence, commercial and public broadcasters should expand their activities toward digital services such as on-demand video and search machines. TNO predicts that traditional television commercials...

Two private equity companies operating in various economic sectors, Cinven and Warburg Pincus, were given the Commission’s go-ahead to proceed with the joint acquisition of two Dutch cable operators. The two Dutch cable operators in question are Casema and Multikabel which provide radio and television, internet access and telephony services. The Commission approved the joint acquisition after it found that the cable operators have few overlapping activities in the markets for broadband internet access, retail distribution of fixed telephony services, leased lines and in the market for multiple...

In May 2006, the Dutch Media Authority published its report on the regulation of the Dutch commercial television market. In this report, the Media Authority analyses the current highly competitive commercial television market and concludes that there is no level playing field as not all competitors are judged by the same standards. The reason for this is that one of the three competitors, RTL Nederland, operates under a Luxembourg broadcasting licence and as such falls under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, whereas the others are subject to Dutch regulation. Even though both...

In January 2006, reporters of the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf received confidential information from an anonymous source about a drugs dealer. This information was leaked by a Dutch intelligence service (AIVD) insider to the underworld. Prior to publishing the story, the reporters informed the AIVD about the leak. Subsequently, the AIVD decided to spy on the reporters by tapping their phones and internet connections. In the court case that followed, De Telegraaf asked the judge to order the State to cease the tapping and to delete every record and every copy concerning the reporters. The...