Search results : 1348

On 2 March 2011, the German cabinet adopted and published the government’s draft amendment to the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG). The main purpose of the proposal is the implementation of the changes to the EU’s regulatory framework for electronic communications adopted at the end of 2009. Under the conditions established by the Directive, the implementation must be completed by May. As early as September 2010, the ministry responsible, the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (Federal Ministry for the Economy and Technology) forwarded the ministerial draft...

The Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (Commission for Licensing and Supervision - ZAK) of the Landesmedienanstalten (regional media authorities) decided on 16 March 2011 that the law does not permit the television broadcasts of the Bundestag proceedings, which have been produced since 1990, in their present form. The reason why the ZAK has made this ruling is that the programme has been distributed unencrypted via satellite and cable and as a webstream since January 2011. Moreover, the editorial organisation of the programme, which originally consisted to a very large extent of live broadcasts...

In accordance with its provisional assessment of 22 February 2011 (see IRIS 2011-4/19), the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office - BKartA) rejected on 17 March 2011 the plan of RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 to set up a joint venture for the establishment and operation of an online video platform. In the Cartel Office’s opinion, such a platform would further strengthen the two broadcasting groups’ existing market-dominating duopoly. In particular, the plan would have the effect of preserving the current situation on the television advertising market and transferring it to in-stream advertising in online...

On 25 March 2011, the Verwaltungsgericht des Saarlandes ((Saarland Administrative Court) ruled that broadcasters must normally be allowed to film public city council meetings and may only be prohibited from doing so in exceptional circumstances. The mayor of the City of Saarbrücken had turned down an application by the private broadcaster Funkhaus Saar GmbH to film the city council’s public meetings exclusively for reporting purposes (see IRIS 2010-10/23). She gave as her reason for the ban her fear that the city council’s ability to function properly could be adversely affected if its meetings...

In a judgment of 29 March 2011, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice - BGH) ruled that the German courts had no international jurisdiction in proceedings concerning a violation of personality rights resulting from an internet publication. The plaintiff is a Russian national with residences in Germany and Russia. The defendant, a former fellow pupil of the plaintiff, lives in the United States. After a class reunion in Moscow, at which the two parties were present, the defendant wrote an article in which, among other things, she described the plaintiff’s appearance and lifestyle. The...