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On 29 January 2003 the Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (Italian Communications Authority - AGCOM) adopted the frequency plan for digital terrestrial television broadcasting pursuant to article 1 para 1, of law no. 66/2001 of 20 March 2001 (see IRIS 2001-4: 9). Broadcasters licensed according to the regulation adopted by the AGCOM on 15 November 2001 (decision no. 435/01/CONS, see IRIS 2002-1: 9) will transmit according to this Plan from 2006. Until then, experimental transmissions will be allowed. The Plan reflects the structure of the Italian regional territory (Regioni) and envisages...

The national film institutes of the 15 Member States of the European Union have made a common declaration on the importance of State aid for European films. This is the first time the film institutes have made a common statement. The national film institutes are publicly funded and were founded to support national and European film culture. In this common declaration the institutes express their concerns regarding the necessity for State aid for European films. The institutes are worried that the audio-visual sector in Europe will be left solely to the chances of free market forces. In the declaration,...

On 7 February 2003, the Italian Parliament modified certain provisions of Decreto Legge no. 373/2000 (Decree Law no. 373 of 15 November 2000, implementing European Union Directive 98/84 on conditional access, see IRIS 2001-1: 14) which, since it entered into force in 2000, had decriminalised a whole set of actions formerly deemed to constitute an illicit act under article 171octies of the Italian Copyright Act. The new amendment expressly defines the counterfeiting of satellite cards as an illicit act, punishable by imprisonment. Modified satellite television access cards illegally allow users...

On 20 November 2002, the Corte costituzionale (Constitutional Court) decided in a preliminary ruling on questions raised on 31 January 2001 by the Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Lazio (Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio) concerning article 3 para. 7, of law no. 249/1997 adopting the Communications Act. This provision states that, considering the consistent and effective development in the number of viewers of cable and satellite television, the Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (Italian Communications Authority) has to establish the date, on which channels that are only...

On 25 September, the Ministero delle comunicazioni (Minister for Communications) presented a draft law laying down new provisions for the broadcasting sector to the Camera dei deputati (Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament). The discussion began on 17 October in the Parliamentary Commissions for Transportation and Culture. Once the discussion has ended and the draft has been approved, the amended text will have to be passed by the Senato della Repubblica (Senate of the Italian Parliament). The "shuttle" between the two Chambers will have to continue until a common agreement has been reached....