Search results : 149

The Úrad na ochranu hospodárské souteze (Czech Monopolies Commission) has ruled on the alleged abuse of a dominant market position by a cable network operator. In order to dominate the market, the company concerned sold its services at a loss between 1998 and 2000. It concentrated on attracting as many customers as possible, taking no account of the relationship between the price it charged and its own operating costs. This anti-competitive practice was an example of so-called "predatory pricing" and excluded other competitors from the market. It was a form of suppressive competition which prevented...

On 23 January 2001, the Czech Parliament passed an amendment to the Czech Television Act. The amendment was drawn up after the Parliamentary Speaker declared a legislative state of emergency. At the end of last year, the appointment of a new Director General of Czech public service broadcasting led to mass strikes. The appointment was seen as an attempt to gain political control over public service television (see IRIS 2001-1: 7). Generally speaking, however, the amendments to the Act are not particularly far-reaching, although the role of public service television is newly and more precisely...

At the beginning of the year, the Czech government approved a draft amendment to the Czech Television Act no.483/1991 as amended in 1995 and to the Czech Radio Act no.484/1991. The purpose of the amendment is to revise the procedure for appointing the Director General of the public service broadcasters Ceská Televize (CT) and Cesk ´y rozhlas (CR). The appointment of a new CT Director General at the end of last year had led to mass strikes among the employees; the editorial offices and part of the production studio had also been occupied. Under the current law, the Director General is chosen by...

Directive 97/7/EC on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts was transposed into the law of the Czech Republic by the Amendment of the Civil Code Articles 52 - 57 in Part Five of the Code, entitled Consumer Contracts. The provisions of the Civil Code give legal protection to consumers who purchase goods and services by means of a distance communication - that is, where the consumer and the supplier do not have face to face contact. The regulation therefore covers, among others, the sale of goods via e-mail, but also sales effected by teleshopping. The consumer shall be offered...

The Czech Republic has become the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to pass a law on electronic signatures. The Czech Parliament adopted the Zákon c. o elektronickém podpisu (Electronic Signature Act) on 29 June 2000 in order to transpose Directive 1999/93/EC into domestic law. The Act contains definitions that correspond with those set out in the EC Directive. An "electronic signature" is defined as data in electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with other electronic data and which serve as a method of authentication. An "advanced electronic signature", which...