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Under the Broadcasting Act, 2001, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has the role of drafting codes on matters of taste and decency, portrayal of violence and of sexual conduct in broadcast programmes (see IRIS 2001-4: 9). It is also required to implement rules governing advertising and sponsorship in accordance with the provisions of the "Television without Frontiers" Directive. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission hears complaints in relation to breaches of the relevant rules and codes. In February 2002, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission upheld a complaint against TV3, the national...

Ireland's national public service broadcaster, RTÉ, has just introduced a system that will help television viewers to decide whether or not its programmes are suitable for children and teenagers. Pre-recorded programmes shown on RTÉ's two television stations now show a small icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen for twenty seconds at the beginning of the programmes. There are five classifications: General Audience (GA), Children (Ch), Young Adult (YA), Parental Supervision (PS), and Mature Audience (MA). Programmes classified as "Young Adult" are aimed at teenagers and may deal with...

The Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) has recently published a draft version of the strategy for the management of the radio spectrum in Ireland. The impetus for the publication of the draft strategy has been the economic impact of the use of the radio spectrum in recent years, together with the growth in demand for the radio spectrum, particularly as the information society has developed and with the general trend towards convergence. The strategy document outlines the expected use of the spectrum in the years ahead. The draft strategy document is part of an ongoing...

In July 2001 The Irish Times settled a copyright claim arising out of a webcast of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses". The webcast, to celebrate Bloomsday on 16 June 1998, involved a global reading of "Ulysses" over the Internet, carried on The Irish Times's website, The period of copyright protection in Ireland formerly was fifty years. As a result, Joyce's work came out of copyright in 1991. However, Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, which harmonised copyright periods upwards to seventy years, extended the...

In October 2001, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) announced details of its new ownership and control policy for commercial broadcasting. The Radio and Television Act 1988 requires the BCI to formulate and apply a policy that takes account of plurality of ownership and diversity of content in broadcasting. The Broadcasting Act 2001 (see IRIS 2001-4: 9), which makes provision for the introduction of a host of new analog and digital radio and television services, also addresses the issue of diversity of sources and content of programming. In April 2001 the BCI decided to undertake a review...