Search results : 806

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has announced after consultation the arrangements to be made for regulating video on demand services under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and implementing the requirements of the UK Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2009 (see IRIS 2010-1: 1/24). In earlier consultation the UK Government had made it clear that it intended to limit the scope of UK regulation to the narrow range of services falling within the scope of the AVMS Directive and only to include services which include programmes similar to those available on television broadcast services....

On 12 November 2009, the Coroners and Justice Bill became law. Section 73 provides for the “Abolition of common law libel offences etc.” Specifically, it states that “The following offences under the common law of England and Wales and the common law of Northern Ireland are abolished— (a) the offences of sedition and seditious libel; (b) the offence of defamatory libel; (c) the offence of obscene libel.” It should be noted that this provision only applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Eight years ago the British courts decided in favour of a disclosure order in the case of Interbrew SA v. Financial Times and others. The case concerned an order against four newspapers (FT, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent) and the news agency Reuters to deliver up their original copies of a leaked and (apparently) partially forged document about a contemplated takeover by Interbrew (now: Anheuser Bush InBev NV) of SAB (South African Breweries). In a judgment of 15 December 2009, the European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section) came to the conclusion that this disclosure order constituted...

The UK has had since 1956 a list of events that are felt to have special national resonance and so are available, so far as is possible, to be broadcast on free-to-air television. The list, which is drawn up by the Secretary of State, has been regularly amended and has now been examined by an Independent Review Panel. The Panel found that 82% of respondents believed that they had an entitlement to watch certain events free-to-air, as they had already paid their BBC licence fee, and that there is compelling evidence of a public expectation that the BBC should give a high priority to such events....

The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport is consulting on a change to advertising rules to permit product placement on television; it has stated that it “is currently minded to permit product placement on UK television, subject to safeguards”. It is however concerned about potential health issues related to the promotion of particular types of product. The current position is that product placement is prohibited by the requirements in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code that “no undue prominence may be given in any programme to a product or service” (rule 10.4) and that “product placement is prohibited”...