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On 25 January 2005 the Rechtbank Utrecht (District Court of Utrecht) concluded in summary judgment that two regional television broadcasters were not obliged to broadcast a television commercial. The plaintiff in the case was the author of a book entitled “Judas”, which he described as an erotic thriller. The book contains three stories that all address the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. The plaintiff developed a television commercial to promote his book. The commercial shows images of Jesus and Judas while a voice-over poses a number of questions on the relationship between...

On 10 February 2005 the Dutch Court of Appeal reversed a judgment taken by the Court of Amsterdam in interlocutory proceedings. In December 2003 the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (Dutch Broadcasting Foundation, NOS) - an umbrella organisation coordinating national public broadcasting - and the Nederlandse Programma Stichting (Programme Service Foundation of the Netherlands , NPS) - an organisation which complements the programming of national public broadcasters - jointly acquired a former commercial radio station called “Colorful Radio”. Following the acquisition, the Vereniging voor Commerciële...

On 23 November 2004, the third annual report entitled “ Concentratie en Pluriformiteit van de Nederlandse Media ” (Concentration and Plurality of the Dutch Media) was handed to the Secretary of State for Culture, Medy van der Laan. The report, which was prepared by the Commissariaat voor de Media (the Dutch Media Authority), analyses media concentrations and ownership relations in the press, television and radio sectors in the Netherlands and sets out recommendations for the development of rules governing media concentrations. Under current legislation, concentrations in the media sector are regulated...

On 22 December 2004 an amendment of the Mediawet (Dutch Media Act) entered into force. The change makes it easier for broadcasting associations to enter the public broadcasting system. Broadcasting associations in the Netherlands have to be accredited by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. The accreditation gives them the right to broadcasting time throughout the accreditation period. Accreditations are granted once every five years for a period of five years. Whether a broadcasting association obtains an accreditation depends on its policy plan and the number of members it has. Under...

On 21 December 2004, the Rechtbank `s Hertogenbosch (the District Court of `s Hertogenbosch) convicted a person (hereinafter referred to as "J") to suspended sentence of imprisonment for four weeks (with a probation period of two years) for having deliberately insulted Jews over the internet. J. had created a web-site on which he had put several texts denying that the holocaust ever occurred. He had also created links to other texts, one of which was a full-text version of a book entitled "Did six million people really die?", written by Richard E. Harwood. Furthermore, he had translated several...