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The Landtag (State parliament) in Vienna has unanimously adopted an amendment to the Wiener Jugendschutzgesetz (Vienna Youth Protection Act) concerning computer and video games, which entered into force on 1 December 2008 and includes an obligation for computer games to be properly labelled. Packaging must now display the standard PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) symbols which have been developed at European level by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE). As well as an age rating, the symbols provide information about problematic content such as violence, sex and racism. Until...

At the end of November 2008, the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) agreed to form a coalition government. They also adopted a government programme for the five-year parliamentary term. The Government is hoping to achieve the following media policy objectives between now and 2013: 1. The KommAustria media authority will be strengthened further. Rather than acting monocratically as it has up to now, its decisions will be taken in future by a media committee, a public broadcasting committee and two telecommunications committees. Additional committees may...

The Austrian operators of public telephone services are to receive EUR 17 million for costs incurred as a result of implementing the Überwachungsverordnung (Monitoring Ordinance – ÜVO). This has been determined by the Investitionskostenverordnung (Investment Costs Ordinance– IKVO) recently issued by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice. According to the Monitoring Ordinance, public telephone service operators are obliged to make the necessary technical facilities available for the monitoring of telecommunications in connection with criminal investigations carried out under sections 134 ff....

On 1 September 2008, the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communications Court – BKS) reached a further decision (Case 611.009/0013-BKS/2008) on alleged offences reported by the Kommunikationsbehörde Austria (Austrian broadcasting regulator – KommAustria) concerning programmes broadcast by ORF. In this second decision, the BKS dismissed KommAustria’s allegation that in three programmes broadcast by ORF1 on 9 November 2004 there had been a breach of section 14(5) of the Bundesgesetz über den Österreichischen Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Act – ORF-G) relating to product placement....

In a decision dated 1 September 2008, the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communications Court – BKS) gave a ruling on an alleged offence reported by the Kommunikationsbehörde Austria (Austrian broadcasting regulator – KommAustria) concerning programmes broadcast by ORF. The decision relates to a programme broadcast by ORF2 on 1 April 2005 in which, according to the Court, there was a breach of the ban on teleshopping contained in section 13(2) of the Bundesgesetz über den Österreichischen Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Act – ORF-G). In the context of these proceedings, the BKS...