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Case-law concerning the Internet is gradually taking shape. The order delivered in an urgent matter by the Commercial Chamber of the Regional Court (Tribunal de grande instance - TGI) of Strasbourg is a further demonstration that it is a mistake to think that Internet is a law unto itself. The decision is all the more interesting in that this is the first time in France that it has been judged that a newspaper does not have the right to use articles written by journalists subsequently on Internet without first obtaining their consent; the same holds for television broadcasts. The computer company...

In a resolution of 8 July 1997, the National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés - CNIL) set out the guarantees that publishers of on-line directories should provide for subscribers. The formalities to be fulfilled before setting up the automated processing of nominative information are contained in the provisions of the law of 6 January 1978, relating to data processing, data files and to individual rights. The law also covers processing of data for producing lists of users or subscribers to network and telecommunications services. Any such...

There are over 1500 private radios in France using terrestrial frequencies, in compliance with the law. However, it has needed some 17 years to bring calm to the wavelengths. Back in the early 80's, the so-called "free" radios hijacked the FM waveband and successive regulatory bodies experienced great difficulty in bringing them to book, in other words making sure that a frequency could only be used with the authorisation of what is now the Audiovisual Supervisory Board ( Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel - CSA) . The CSA has recently found itself up against the problem of private radios (often...

A judgement handed down on 10 September 1996 by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (European Commission vs. Kingdom of Belgium - see IRIS 1996-10: 5-6) condemned the principle of prior agreement between the National Media Authority (CSA) and broadcasters from EU Member States before they can be distribued on cable networks (in the USA referred to as "cable systems"). It is now up to France to draw the consequences of this decision. Article 34-1 of the law of 30 September 1986 states that the cable operator, the body that makes up the programme package, has to obtain authorisation...

The Commercial Court (tribunal de commerce) and the Court of Appeal (cour d'appel) in Paris have just delivered the first decisions in a case being brought between the radio station Voltage FM and Médiamétrie, the company which is under contract to supply it with information on audience figures. In September 1997 the RTV Multicom which operates the music station questioned the results of a survey carried out by company Médiamétrie, according to which Voltage's audience had fallen by more than half, although the station had carried out considerable promotional operations in the previous month....