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On 4 May 2001, the Federal Ministry for Business and Technology tabled a Bill designed to transpose Directive 98/84/EC of 20 November 1998 on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access. The Bill aims to protect services that provide access to restricted services on a fee-paying basis against infringing activities carried out for commercial gain. Conditional access services in the sense of Section 2 of the Bill are broadcasting, teleservices and media services provided against remuneration and on the basis of conditional access. They include technical measures...

On 30 March 2001, the Bundesrat (Federal Council) approved three Federal Government ordinances, which establish the legal framework proposed in Sections 44 to 49 of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG). These are the Frequenzbereichszuweisungsplanverordnung (Frequency Band Allocation Plan OrdinanceFreqBZPVO), based on Section 45.1 of the TKG, the Frequenznutzungsplanaufstellungsverordnung (Ordinance on the Procedure for Drawing Up the Frequency Usage PlanFreqNPAVO, based on Section 46.3 of the TKG) and the Frequenzzuteilungsverordnung (Frequency Assignment Ordinance - FreqZutVO,...

At the beginning of May, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Union of German Public Broadcasters - ARD) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) acquired from the Kirch group the broadcasting rights to 24 matches in the 2002 football World Cup. The matches include those described in Section 5a of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on Broadcasting) as "events of particular importance to society", which may not be broadcast exclusively on pay-TV, ie matches involving the German national team, the opening match, both semi-finals...

According to Section 4 of the so-called DW-Gesetz (DW Act), Deutsche Welle (DW), the radio and television broadcaster established under federal law to provide broadcasting services abroad, must offer a comprehensive picture of German political, cultural and economic life to viewers and listeners outside Germany. In order to fulfil this task, DW, a public broadcasting company, has for several years been stepping up its efforts to provide a more comprehensive and interesting service at a reasonable cost, by working together with other German public service broadcasters. Practical cooperation is...

In mid-May, the Saarland regional government published a draft Media Bill which, for the first time in the history of German media legislation, would establish a single regulatory framework for the press, broadcasting and new media. The Bill aims to create a legal framework which emphasises the freedom of all mass media to fulfil their public duties, to lay down common minimum standards for the protection of important social values (particularly human dignity) and interests (mainly the protection of minors and consumers), to promote self-regulation by the media and media supervisory bodies as...