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On 9 March 2017, Ofcom published a statement setting out its decision to remove the concept of the list of “larger parties” from the rules on party political and referendum broadcasts (“PPRB Rules”); and changes to apply Section Five (due impartiality and due accuracy) and Section Six of the Broadcasting Code. The revised PPRB Rules and the revised rules in Sections Five and Six of the Code came into effect on 22 March 2017, in accordance with the transitional arrangements in the BBC Charter and Agreement. Effective 3 April 2017, Ofcom assumed responsibility as the first external regulator for...

A Sky News report broadcast on 7 August 2016 showing an interview with alleged gun dealers in Romania was determined by Ofcom not to have been staged or faked, nor lacking in impartiality. As a consequence Ofcom found the report had not breached Rule 5.1 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code. The Sky studio introduction to the report said that “A Romanian Gang has told Sky News it’s prepared to sell automatic weapons to anyone, including terrorists ... Our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsey has travelled to Romania to meet the gun dealers who claim to have thousands of weapons.” The two alleged gun dealers...

Openreach, the infrastructure division of the BT Group (BTG), will become a distinct company with its own staff, management, purpose, and strategy, thus addressing competition concerns held by Ofcom. BT has voluntarily agreed to implement these changes and as a consequence it averts Ofcom’s requirement to introduce regulations to effect the change (see IRIS 2017-2/18 and IRIS 2016-4/16). Openreach Limited was incorporated at UK Companies House on the 24 March 2017. As a distinct company Openreach will have its own directors who will be legally required to make decisions in the interests of customers...

In general, the Ofcom Broadcasting Code permits “commercial references” in programming; however, section 9.5 cautions against “undue prominence” of a product, service or trademark, be it because there is no editorial justification or because of the manner of the reference. It is an industry convention, though not explicitly referred to in the Code, that broadcast coverage of sports events may include (as editorially justified) a brief, on-screen acknowledgement of the provider of technical information. Such information might cover lap times, statistics, or a scoreboard. On 23 January 2017, Ofcom...

An agreement has been reached to make it less likely that consumers will be led by search engines to copyright-infringing websites. The agreement has been brokered by the UK Intellectual Property Office, the UK governmental body responsible for intellectual property rights, with the assistance of the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Implementation will be monitored by the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. Despite this involvement of official bodies, the code of practice is voluntary and not directly enforced by government. Its effect is...