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A French support scheme aimed at encouraging the creation of video games has recently been endorsed by the European Commission. The scheme was notified by the French authorities on the basis of Article 87(3) (d) of the EC Treaty; the Commission subsequently opened an in-depth investigation to ensure that the measure would not adversely affect trading conditions and competition, acting as an industrial policy instrument in favour of the French video game sector. The aid scheme enables video game manufacturers subject to taxation in France to deduct up to 20% of the production costs of certain games....

Call TV programmes - programmes where viewers are invited to phone in or send SMS messages at premium rates in order win hypothetical prizes - have been under the scrutiny of the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory authority - CSA) for several months. In 2002 the CSA adopted a recommendation establishing rules for calls at premium rates, which were authorised if they were “occasional and discrete” and if they were an extension of a programme being broadcast at that point in time. Call TV operates according to a different model, however, since the calls at premium rates are...

On 23 November 2007 rightsholders of the audiovisual, cinema and music sectors, Internet access providers (IAPs) and the public authorities signed an agreement on cultural works and on combating piracy on the Internet. The agreement is the end result of the mission entrusted by Nicolas Sarkozy to Denis Olivennes last September (see IRIS 2007-9: 14 and IRIS 2007-10: 14), bringing together, for the first time, 42 bodies and companies agreeing on a number of joint proposals, and has been described by the Minister for Culture as “historic”. According to the terms of the agreement, the public authorities...

Although the right of reply “for any person named or designated in an online communication service” was instituted by Article 6 IV of the Act on Trust in the Digital Economy of 21 June 2004, the method for its application needed to be set out in a decree. This has only been adopted on 24 October 2007. The text begins by defining the method whereby people can request to exercise their right of reply. Thus it is necessary for the applicant to indicate the references of the message, the conditions for public access to the online communication service, and - if it is mentioned - the name of the originator....

On 12 October 2007, Denis Olivennes, who has been in charge of a mission “to combat illegal downloading” since 5 September 2007 (see IRIS 2007-9: 14), submitted a progress report to the Minister for Culture. The members of the mission have interviewed representatives of economic beneficiaries, Internet access providers (IPs), consumers and distributors of content, and all have confirmed their desire to achieve a common solution that would make it possible to both prevent piracy, and further develop the level of offer of lawful content. More specifically, the positions set out during these talks...