Search results : 340

On 4 July 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its opinion in Case C-295/12 (Telefónica SA and Others v. European Commission). In this case, the Court considered a request on appeal for the revocation of a fine imposed by the European Commission for anti-competitive pricing in Spanish broadband access markets. The case arose following a complaint to the Commission concerning the pricing policies of Telefónica SA and its subsidiaries submitted on 11 July 2003. The Commission subsequently examined whether the margin between the wholesale prices, which Telefónica charged...

On 3 July 2014, the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that the decision of the Government of the Spanish region of Valencia (“Comunitat Valenciana”) consisting of a series of investments with regards to the project named “Ciudad de la Luz” (City of the Light) is incompatible with EU law. This project includes the creation and exploitation of new cinema studios and a school of cinema near the city of Alicante. The Court validates the decision adopted in May of 2012 by the European Commission, which declared such measures as being a State aid contrary to article...

In its judgment of 11 July 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed the current funding scheme of the Spanish national public service broadcaster Corporación de Radio y Television Espanola (RTVE). In particular, the Court analyses and validates the measures introduced by the Law number 8 of 2009. This Law modifies the regime originally established by the - still in force - Law number 17 of 2006 which generally regulates the provision of the national public broadcasting service in Spain. The main and very important changes introduced by this Law include the elimination of commercial...

On 9 May 2014, the Spanish Parliament adopted the Ley 9/2014 de Telecomunicaciones (Act. No. 9/2014 on Telecommunications). This new general regulation of electronic communications networks and services replaces the previous law that had been in place for more than ten years, since 2003. The new law is fully in line with the so-called Telecom Package approved in 2009 (which consists of the European Union Directives on Citizens’ Rights and Better Law Making and the Regulation establishing the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications), yet the incorporation of such provisions into...

On 8 April 2014, the Madrid Court of Appeals found a Spanish software developer not guilty of an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement. According to the Regional Court of Appeals, developing a P2P software is legal and does not infringe IPRs; in particular, the Court decision states that P2P protocols are a tool to connect devices and therefore allows users to share content stored on his or her own computer. Indeed, P2P software allows direct and decentralised communication among users, and software developers do not interfere in the communication process as file sharing takes place among...