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On 15 December 2011, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartels Office - BKartA) approved the takeover of the cable network operator Kabel Baden-Württemberg by the American media group Liberty. After the BKartA had expressed serious concerns about the takeover in October (see IRIS 2012-1/20), Liberty's German subsidiary Unitymedia was able to dispel its concerns by making certain commitments. For example, Unitymedia will no longer encrypt digital free-to-air channels, enabling cable customers in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen to receive around 70 digital channels without a smartcard or additional...

On 15 December 2011, the Minister-Presidents of all the Länder except Schleswig-Holstein signed a new Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Gambling Agreement) at the conference of Minister-Presidents in Berlin, after 15 Länder had expressed support for the liberalisation of the gambling industry in the Bundesrat (upper house of parliament). Schleswig-Holstein did not sign the draft agreement because it had already adopted its own Gambling Law in September 2011, which entered into force on 1 January 2012. In the field of sports betting, the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag makes provision for 20 national...

On 1 December 2011, the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) adopted the Aufhebungsgesetz zum Gesetz zur Erschwerung des Zugangs zu kinderpornographischen Inhalten in Kommunikationsnetzen (Act abolishing the Act on the obstruction of access to child pornography via communication networks - Zugangserschwerungsgesetz). The Zugangserschwerungsgesetz, which entered into force on 17 February 2010, was designed, inter alia, to make it possible to block Internet sites containing child pornography (see IRIS 2010-4/19). However, after heavy public criticism, in accordance with the coalition agreement of...

Having been adopted by 14 Land parliaments in recent months, the 15th Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag (Agreement Amending the Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement) has now been approved by the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and finally, on 16 December 2011, by the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The agreement concerns the financing of public service broadcasting. In response to changing user behaviour, it regulates the switch from a device-based licence fee to a household-based tax from 2013, with continued exemptions (e.g., for people receiving income support or unemployment benefit, or for...

In a ruling of 17 November 2011, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided that prominent figures who advertise investment funds that ultimately fail can, in some circumstances, be liable for losses suffered by investors. This particularly applies to advertisers who refer to their specialist knowledge in advertising for investment products. The decision was taken in the case of a former German Defence Minister, who was sued for damages by several investors because of his appearance in an advertisement for an investment fund. In the first instance, the politician was ordered to...