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The Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court - LG ) ruled in a recently published judgment that operators of Internet forums are responsible for illegal content posted on their fora from the moment it becomes accessible to the public rather than when it is actually read. The defendant in the case at hand was the on-line news service Heise , which regularly publishes articles relevant to the IT sector and operates Internet fora in which readers can post their views on current issues. Following an article concerning the business practices of a particular company, several forum participants had...

In a ruling of 26 January 2006, the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Court of Finance - BFH) confirmed that the standard rate of taxation applies to the turnover of pay-TV companies. Pay-TV providers cannot benefit from the tax reduction for cinemas provided for in Art. 12 para. 2 no. 7b of the Umsatzsteuergesetz (Turnover Tax Act - UStG 1980). The broadcast of a television programme is not the same as a film presentation in the sense of the aforementioned Act. The plaintiff is a pay-TV provider whose customers can watch an encrypted television channel in return for a fixed monthly fee. In the year of...

Satellite operator SES Astra plans to encrypt its digital satellite services. From 2007, the channels of the ProSiebenSat1 and RTL groups will only be broadcast in coded form, opening up new sources of income for the broadcasters. The channels concerned will cost an initial once-off payment of less than EUR 10, plus a monthly charge of less than EUR 5. Viewers will also have to buy a special set-top box and smart card. When analogue satellite transmission is finally cut off in 2010, the channels concerned will no longer be available free of charge via satellite. However, public service channels...

On 22 March 2006, the Federal Government adopted the second wave of copyright law amendments enshrined in the Bill modernising copyright law. The Bill had been published for debate in January 2006 (see IRIS 2006-3:11). An amendment to Art. 53 of the Urhebergesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG ) concerning copying for private and other "own" uses is designed to make it clear that the use of illegal file-swapping sites on the Internet is not covered by the exemption contained in Art. 53 UrhG . Under the Bill, the right to copy for private or "own" uses is no longer just restricted where the source is obviously...

According to press reports, on 7 April 2006 the Landgericht Dortmund (Dortmund District Court) rejected an application by Unity Media for a temporary injunction which would have given it the right to use the decoders of pay-TV provider Premiere. The case was brought following the acquisition of broadcasting rights for the German football Bundesliga by pay-TV provider Arena, a subsidiary of Unity Media (see IRIS 2006-4: 11). Premiere AG, which had owned the rights until the current season, had cancelled an existing agreement with Unity Media, which had enabled viewers to receive programmes broadcast...