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The Hessische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk (Hessian Regional Private Broadcasting Authority - LPR Hessen), which monitors the programmes of the private television channel RTL2, has complained about the broadcasting of seven pornographic films. Also on 15 June 2000, the broadcaster was prohibited from showing similar programmes in the future. LPR Hessen had decided to investigate the pornographic content of erotic films shown by RTL2 in recent months. As a result, seven out of more than thirty films that were examined were classified as "pornographic". LPR Hessen's classification therefore...

In a ruling made in connection with the Merger Control Regulation (4064/89), the European Commission has approved the sale of Kabel Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia Cable Network - KNW) to Callahan Invest Limited. The vendor, Deutsche Telekom, will retain a minority interest of 45% in KNW. Under the terms of Commission Directive 1999/64/EC of 23 June 1999 amending Directive 90/388/EEC, in order to ensure that telecommunications networks and cable TV networks owned by a single operator are separate legal entities, Member States are obliged to ensure that companies with a dominant market...

In a decision of 4 May 2000, the German Patent and Trademark Office's arbitration service for the exercise of copyright and related rights proposed a settlement in the dispute between the Zentralstelle für private Überspielungsrechte (Central Office for private copying rights - ZPÜ) and Hewlett-Packard GmbH. The case concerned the controversial question as to whether, in accordance with Article 54.1 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG), the tax on recording appliances should apply to CD-Writers. The Act protects authors by imposing a special tax on manufacturers or importers of appliances...

The Federal Minister of the Interior and the Press Council have compromised over the control of data collected by the media. The current draft Data Protection Act is designed to transpose the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. The original draft stipulated that the media should be subject to data control measures, a decision that had aroused criticism from the German Press Council and numerous media organisations. The provisions stated that all citizens had a right to know about any data collected and stored concerning them. Editors were also required to appoint independent data protection officers...

The Deutsche Fussballbund (German Football Association - DFB) has agreed a four-year contract with the Kirch group on the exploitation of television and Internet rights relating to the Bundesliga (national football league). The Kirch group will pay DEM 3 billion, ie DEM 750 million per season, for the right to broadcast Bundesliga matches between 2000 and 2004. The deal covers pay-TV broadcasts, including the possibility of watching all matches on a pay-per-view basis, as well as free TV channels, which can be received at no extra charge. Once again, therefore, the DFB has sold these rights centrally...