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The Beleidslijn zendtijdaanvragen van kerkgenootschappen en genootschappen op geestelijke grondslag (the Policy on applications for broadcasting time from religious and other spiritual organisations) based on Section 39f of the Mediawet (the Dutch Media Act), according to which the Commissariaat voor de Media (the Dutch Media Authority) may allocate public national broadcasting time to religious and other spiritual organisations once every five years, recognizes Islam as one of the seven main religions and other spiritual organisations (see IRIS 2004-5: 14). However, it is up to the applicant organisation...

On 7 April 2005 the Amsterdam preliminary Court rendered a decision settling a dispute between a consortium of cable operators and the Bureau voor Muziekauteursrecht (Mediation Society for Collection of Music Copyright - BUMA). The Court ordered the parties to negotiate the contested payable amount of authors' rights within a frame of time not exceeding 1 October 2005. In 1985 the cable operators contractually agreed upon the amount of authors' rights payable for the transmission of works represented and protected by BUMA. Television broadcasting organizations in particular (public as well as commercial...

On 26 March 2005, the representatives of the three coalition parties of the right-wing / Christian democratic government (D66, CDA and VVD ) reached a political agreement which encompasses several topics including a proposal for future media policy. This so called Paasakkoord (Easter Agreement) is a direct consequence of the Opposition's refusal to endorse one of D66's main political aims- namely, the introduction of an elected mayor- thereby forcing the ruling parties to revise their coalition agreement. The agreement addresses a number of priorities among which a proposed media policy regarding...

A new set of Recommendations on freedom of expression, access to information and means of communication, and privacy, was adopted at a recent international conference organised by the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO. The Recommendations, which focus in particular on the exercise of these rights in an online environment, are divided into a preamble and three substantive sections: human rights protection, access and privacy. The section, “Human rights protection”, opens with a reminder of some of the procedural safeguards governing regulations with a potentially restrictive effect on the...

The Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit (Dutch Competition Authority - NMa) has decided that a license is required for the acquisition of Canal+ by the cable company UPC. Following a preliminary investigation, the Nma has come to the conclusion that a dominant position of UPC may arise or be strengthened as a result of the acquisition, with possible restrictive effects on competition. UPC operates a large cable network in the Netherlands and offers television, broadband Internet and telephone services through its cable network. Canal+ is the largest provider of pay-TV in the Netherlands. The NMa...