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In the United Kingdom, non-broadcast advertising (such as press, leaflet and cinema advertising) is subject to the code of the Advertising Standards Authority, a self-regulatory body established by the advertising industry itself. The code does not have a direct basis in statute. The Authority published an adjudication under the code, having received a complaint from a health authority, to the effect that a leaflet promoting health products, published by Matthias Rath BV, was in breach of the code. The company applied for judicial review on the basis that this breached the European Convention on...

The major White Paper on the regulation of communications, including broadcasting, in the UK, (see IRIS 2001-1: 8) proposed the future simplification of content regulation and a much greater reliance on partial self-regulation by the broadcasters themselves. The Independent Television Commission, the UK regulator of private broadcasters, has announced a number of moves in this direction even before the proposals have been finalised and put into legislation. The future approach was indicated in a speech by the new Chief Executive of the Commission, who summarised her approach as "we should be reluctant...

Last year, the Independent Television Commission opened a consultation on the approach to regulation concerning interactive services (see ITC news release of 29 February 2000). The key elements of interactive services were recognised to be (a) viewer choice and (b) viewer responsibility. The spin-off is the potential for certain rules to be amended or disapplied. The consultation related to the two main forms of interactive services: "dedicated interactive services" and "enhanced programme services". The former are "stand-alone services not related to a broadcast programme but accessed primarily...

The Radio Authority, established by the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 to license and regulate Independent Radio, adopted and published its original Advertising and Sponsorship Code ten years ago. The 1990 Act obliges the Authority to review the Code from time to time. In March 2000, the Authority initiated a consultation process with the aim of revising and modernizing the Code. The new Code was published on 4 January 2001. Broadly, the aims of the revision are to (a) bring the Code into line with current and pending legislation (b) restructure the Code, to highlight the more important rules...

The UK regulator of private broadcasters, the Independent Television Commission (ITC), has issued a revised procedure for the application of sanctions to licensees where they are considered to be in breach of the provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1990, for example, those relating to programme standards or impartiality. These sanctions range from the requirement to broadcast a correction or apology, through financial penalties (which may be very large), to shortening or revoking the licence. The new procedure replaces those set out in guidance notes for different types of licence and takes into...