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On 21 May 1997, the German Federal Cabinet approved a Bill supplementing the new Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz - TKG), submitted by the Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, thus paving the way for its adoption by Parliament. The text provides a basis for the regulatory authority which is to be set up by 1 January 1998, under the Telecommunications Act, itself in force since 1 August 1996. The TKG provides a regulatory framework for liberalisation of the German telecommunications market, starting on 1 January 1998 (see IRIS 1996-7: 9). Under Section 98 of the TKG, the...

According to a judgment delivered by the Hamburg Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht - OLG) on 15 May 1997, the pay-TV broadcaster DF 1 is to be allowed to conclude subscription contracts throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. The Court's judgment sets aside the original judgment by the Regional Court in Hamburg in favour of the company Premiere on appeal; it is enforceable immediately. The pay-TV firm Premiere had brought a complaint against the nation-wide broadcasting of DF 1 programmes by satellite. The judgment of the Hamburg regional court in favour of Premiere in January this year...

In Mannheim on 15 April 1997 the Minister Presidents of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg provisionally agreed on behalf of their Länder the Agreement between the Federal States on the Südwestrundfunk (SWR). This new public-law broadcasting station, which will be available through one broadcaster in each Land (Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate), combine the two existing stations Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR) and Südwestfunk (SWF). The preamble to the Agreement between the Länder explains that this rearrangement of broadcasting in south-western Germany is also intended to give...

On 23 August 1996, the Cologne Regional Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht - OLG) ruled that the fact that a press article on a private television station's news programme contained aggressive and belittling comments on its staff was not enough to justify the assumption that it served - even subjectively - a competitive purpose. Under the heading, "Opinion", a German magazine had published an article on the form and content of a private television station's news programme, which it described as a "daily blood and sperm soap", with reporters as "waiters, serving up easily digestible info-snacks"....

At their meeting at the end of March 1997, the Minister-Presidents of the Länder (the federal states) discussed the question of exclusive live broadcasting of sports events of particular interest to the public by pay-TV. They talked with sport organisers, holders of rights, and private and public broadcasters. The meeting resulted inter alia in agreement that the question of exclusive coverage rights should preferably be settled by means of voluntary agreements among the parties concerned, with consideration being given to a reasonable proportion of basic supply. In this connection reference was...