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The Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) recently published the results of a consultation exercise which it initiated in July 2001 on the future development of the Internet in Ireland. Since its creation in 1997, the ODTR's primary task has been to act as the Irish National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the telecommunications sector. As such, the main focus of the consultation exercise was its own responsibility for the regulation of the communications networks underpinning the Internet. The two most substantive sections of the document deal with the current state of...

On 6 March, the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) issued a Consultation Paper in relation to the new regulatory framework for communication networks and services, recently adopted by the European Union (EU) (see IRIS 2002-1: 5 and IRIS 2002-3: 4). There has been little public comment in Ireland on the package which includes the Framework, Access, Universal Service and Authorisation Directives already adopted by the EU, and the Decision on Spectrum Management and Directive on Data Protection to be adopted separately. The ODTR believes that Ireland is well-placed at...

The Broadcasting Act, 2001 (see IRIS 2001-4: 9) made provision for the introduction of digital television in Ireland. Under the Act, Radio Telefís Éireann (the national public service broadcaster, RTÉ) was accorded one full multiplex and had already signalled its intention to establish additional digital channels at an estimated running cost of EUR 50 million per year (see IRIS 2001-8: 11). However, RTÉ did not receive from the Government the size of increase in the licence fee that it had requested in order to fund the new channels. In November 2001, RTÉ announced that it planned to offer its...

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...