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In May 2003, the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communication Senate - BKS) decided that ORF had committed several breaches of advertising rules enshrined in the ORF-Gesetz (ORF Act) in the TV programme "Starmania" broadcast on 17 January 2003 (see IRIS 2003-7: 6). Part of this decision was then overturned by the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Administrative Court - VwGH) at ORF's request (see IRIS 2006-7: 8). The BKS issued a new ruling on 18 June 2007. As in the original proceedings, the BKS ruled that ORF had repeatedly shown crisp packets, mineral water bottles, a one-metre high tube bearing the...

The Bundesgesetz über den Österreichischen Rundfunk (Federal Act on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) prohibits Österreichische Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation - ORF) from promoting illegal activities through television advertising and teleshopping. The same rule applies to private TV channels. In proceedings before the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communication Senate - BKS), a company accused ORF of violating this ban by broadcasting an advertising spot. The spot begins with images from everyday city life. A man in a suit and a crowd of onlookers see a plastic cup on the...

On 30 May 2007, the Austrian Council of Ministers forwarded a Bill to Parliament with the purpose of amending the Privatfernsehgesetz (Private Television Act), the ORF-Gesetz (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Act) and the KommAustria-Gesetz (KommAustria Act). The purpose of the Bill is to create the legal basis for the introduction of mobile terrestrial television in Austria. The Act does not specify a preference for a particular standard, such as DVB-H or DMB. Instead, the only criterion for deciding on the selection of a standard will concern its user-friendliness (such as the prices of receivers,...

At its meeting on 26 April 2007, the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communications Board - BKS)) took decisions on two different issues relating to advertising in programmes broadcast by the Österreichischer Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation - ORF). The first concerned the broadcast of a programme on ORF 2 in which the audience’s attention was drawn to the musical event “Starnacht in Montafon” wherein the number of the ticket sales hotline was faded in on screen, and an announcement was made concerning the broadcasting of the recorded programme. The BKS ruled that this was a breach...

In two separate judgments delivered on 26 June 2007 (C-284/04 and C-369/04), the European Court of Justice ruled that the award by national regulatory authorities of licences, such as third generation mobile telecommunications licences (known as ‘UMTS’ or ‘3G’), did not constitute an economic activity within the meaning of the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 (Sixth VAT Directive). The 3G technology allows the provision of Internet and multimedia services to mobile devices thanks to a greater capacity to transfer data. These references for a preliminary ruling were made in the...