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In its committee judgment in the case of Brzeziński v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimously held that there has been a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) with regard to the applicant’s right to freedom of expression as a politician at election time. The case concerns in particular a provision in Poland’s election law which allows a court, within 24 hours, to consider whether ‘untrue information’ has been published, and to issue an order prohibiting its further distribution. In October 2006, during a political campaign for election...

On 26 November 2018, the EU Commission initiated proceedings for infringement of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union against 17 member states for non-compliance with the Directive requiring the transposition into national law of the Marrakesh Treaty (Directive (EU) 2017/1564) (see IRIS 2017-9/4 and IRIS 2016-9/4). The Marrakesh Treaty is a WIPO-administered convention that was signed on 27 June 2013 and entered into force on 30 September 2016, after the first 20 ratifications. The Treaty facilitates access to print works in formats adapted for persons who are blind, visually impaired...

On 20 September 2018, Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) presented the results of a consultation on its draft decree on accessible television for viewers with visual or hearing disabilities (projektu rozporządzenia w sprawie udogodnień dla osób niepełnosprawnych z powodu dysfunkcji narządu wzroku i osób niepełnosprawnych z powodu dysfunkcji narządu słuchu w programach telewizyjnych), which was published in June. It had been obliged to issue such a decree after an amendment to the Polish Radio and Television Act was proposed in March 2018, requiring television providers to offer accessible...

The Polish telecommunications regulator, Urząd Komunikacji Elektronicznej (UKE), has opened talks with Polish cable network operators with the aim of persuading them to open up their networks to competitors. According to the UKE, the talks involve Warsaw-based operators Orange Polska, Netia, UPC Polska and Vectra Investments, as well as Multimedia Polska (based in Gdynia), Toya (based in Lodz) and Inea (based in Poznan). The talks mainly concerned the conditions under which cable network operators can be expected to allow others to use their technical infrastructure. In the regulator’s opinion,...

The Polish Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów (Competition and Consumer Protection Office - UOKiK) has issued a fine against telecommunications operator Multimedia Polska, which provides various services, including Internet access and television subscriptions. In 2015 and 2016, the consumer protection office had expressed doubt over the legality of the way in which Multimedia Polska concluded and renewed contracts with its customers. It therefore analysed the company’s telephone sales calls before instigating proceedings at the end of 2016. One of the reasons for this was that Multimedia Polska...