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On 5 October the Government continued in the direction taken by the Prime Minister's speech at Hourtin (IRIS 1999-8: 4) and launched a wide-ranging public consultation on adapting the legislative framework applicable to the information society, inviting all concerned in both the public and private sectors to give their opinion on the legal implications of the development of the Internet. The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (the regulatory body for the audiovisual sector in France - CSA) recently published its intended contribution to the present debate. The summary of the various contributions...

Advertising on television for literary works, the cinema, the press and distribution sector is at present prohibited by Article 8 of the Decree of 27 March 1992. This restriction was originally justified basically by the desire to protect certain media, and in particular the written press, from a migration of advertisers to television. Thus the prohibition as regards distribution was intended specifically to maintain the financial advantage enjoyed by the regional daily newspapers. It was also important to prevent the major groups in the sectors concerned from being the only ones able to have access...

Legislation adapting the law on proof and evidence to information technologies and on electronic signature was adopted on 29 February. This text transposes the Community Directive of 13 December 1999 into French law and adapts it. It defines electronic signature as a reliable identification procedure guaranteeing its connection with the document to which it is attached. The Act states that a procedure is deemed reliableunless proved otherwise - if the electronic signature is created, the identity of the signatory assured and the integrity of the document guaranteed. An implementing decree is to...

The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (the regulatory body for the audiovisual sector in France - CSA) recently fined the public-sector channels France 2 and France 3 for failing to abide by Articles 8 and 9 of the Decree of 27 March 1992 that prohibit firstly advertising on television for beverages containing more than 1.2% alcohol and secondly surreptitious advertising. The latter is constituted by the presentation of goods, services or brand-names outside advertising breaks with a view to promoting them rather than to informing viewers, regardless of whether such promotion was deliberate or...

On a number of occasions in January 1997, the national television company France 2 broadcast excerpts from two hit records by a well-known pop group as background music for trailers promoting the broadcasting of films it intended to show. The producer of the phonograms considered that use of this kind without special authorisation was unlawful and, after the failure of an attempt to reach a settlement, brought proceedings before the commercial court in Paris. The court delivered its decision on 17 December 1999. The situation is very tense between the various parties involved, and a number of cases...