Search results : 1348

In a decision of 7 March 2012, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz der Landesmedienanstalten (Land Media Authorities’ Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media - KJM) agreed to broaden the powers of Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen (Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Television Industry - FSF). FSF had asked for its remit to be extended to include television-like telemedia content. The non-profit-making association of private television providers had previously been responsible for checking the intensity of violent or sexual content of television programmes and deciding at what...

On 20 March 2012, the Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht der Landesmedienanstalten (Media Licensing and Monitoring Commission - ZAK) filed another complaint that the “Show zum Tag des Glücks”, broadcast by TV broadcaster “Das Vierte”, infringed the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Interstate Gambling Agreement - GlüStV), and prohibited a repeat broadcast (see IRIS 2011-10/12). During the programme, which was broadcast on 11 November 2011, the Süddeutsche Klassenlotterie (South German lottery - SKL) had been mentioned by the presenter a total of 26 times and its logo had appeared more than 200 times....

On 29 March 2012, the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament), with the votes of the governing parties, adopted without any amendments a bill strengthening the freedom of the press (PrStG) (see IRIS 2010-9/22). The bill is designed to strengthen the freedom of the press by offering better protection to journalists and their sources, in order to ensure that the media can fulfil their oversight function vis-à-vis State activities. In addition, a new paragraph has been added to Article 353b of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code - StGB; breaches of official secrecy and special obligations of secrecy),...

In two rulings of 14 March 2012, the Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht (Hanseatic Appeals Court - OLG) prohibited the file-hosting site Rapidshare from making certain copyrighted content available to its users. The judges therefore upheld the decision of the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court - LG), which, in lower-instance judgments, had granted the request of the publishers Campus and De Gruyter and agreed with the legal opinion of the GEMA collecting society concerning Rapidshare’s liability and obligations. Therefore Rapidshare is prohibited from making available the aforementioned publishers’...

On 28 March 2012, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) held that a decision issued in 2008 banning two journalists from photographing on-duty police officers was unlawful. Members of a special police task force (SEK) were accompanying a prisoner suspected of involvement in organised crime from his place of detention to a doctor’s surgery when they were spotted and photographed by two journalists. The leader of the police operation ordered the journalists not to take photographs of the officers and threatened to confiscate the camera if they failed to comply. He claimed...