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Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has rejected a complaint from the West Midlands Police about the Dispatches programme broadcast by Channel 4 on 15 January 2007 reporting the observations of an undercover reporter who had visited a number of mosques and Islamic organisations in Britain and had found examples of extremist speech. The programme had claimed to find “…an ideology of bigotry and intolerance spreading through Britain with its roots in Saudi Arabia”. The programme included secretly filmed footage and recordings of speeches, which it claimed to be homophobic, anti-Semitic, sexist...

The UK Advertising Standards Authority has prohibited the display of two posters advertising the film “Shoot Em Up”. This followed 55 complaints, objecting on a number of grounds including that: the posters (a) glorified and glamorised gun crime; (b) were insensitive to the families of victims of gun crimes; (c) were offensive and unduly threatening; and (d) were capable of causing distress to children. The ASA considered the matter under various Clauses of the Code on Advertising Practice (2.2; 5.1; 5.2; 9.1; 11.1). Two posters were held to be glamorising guns - as opposed to simply reflecting...

The UK communications regulator Ofcom has opened a consultation on proposals concerning licensing the right to use mobile telephones on commercial aircraft. The consultation opened on 18 October 2007 and it closes on 30 November 2007. The consultation follows a discussion document published in 2006. Ofcom’s responsibility is limited to spectrum regulation and the problem of potential intereference with terrestrial networks. Accordingly, the use of such equipment would be licensed only above 3000 metres. Such onboard networks should not be, in Ofcom’s opinion, “licence-exempt” because of the “…uncertainty...

The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the British communications regulator, has imposed a fine of GBP 2 million (approx. EUR 3 million) on GMTV, the commercial public service breakfast-time broadcaster. The fine is for its serious failure to ensure compliance with Ofcom’s codes on premium-rate phone competitions between 2003 and 2007. From 2003 GMTV employed the telecommunications operator, Opera, to manage the competition entry systems and to provide telecommunications services. After complaints and an investigation carried out in a programme by the BBC, Ofcom found that there had been four types...

The British Competition Commission has issued a provisional finding that the pay-TV operator BSkyB’s acquisition of a 17.9% share in the largest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, ITV, would be likely to lead to a significant lessening of competition by giving it the opportunity to influence ITV’s strategy. A final report is expected in December, and the minister will then decide what action to take (which could include requiring divestment of the stake or restrictions on behaviour, such as on the exercising of voting rights). The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry referred two questions...