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Once again, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media - monitoring and enforcement of media regulation) has rendered decisions relating to forbidden product placement. Although the two cases both present similar facts, only the first decision, against the commercial broadcaster VMMa, is explicitly grounded in the regulation on product placement. The second, against the public broadcasting corporation VRT, concerns a radio programme, hence the new regulation on product placement is not applicable in this case (see Article 98 of the new Flemish Media Decree). On 26 April...

The new rules for product placement are without doubt creating problems for public-sector broadcasters in Belgium. Following on from the two cases involving VRT (see IRIS 2010-5: 1/9 and IRIS 2010-7: 1/7), it is now the turn of RTBF to be ordered by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory body - CSA) to pay a fine of EUR 10,000 and to broadcast a communiqué for having failed to observe the statutory provisions concerning product placement. In February 2010, to mark the Chinese New Year, RTBF broadcast a daily micro-programme devoted to Eastern cookery entitled “A table on...

On 17 June 2010, the Austrian Nationalrat (national assembly) adopted amendments to the Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Act), KommAustria-Gesetz (KommAustria Act - KommAustria-G), Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act), Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz (Collecting Societies Act), ORF-Gesetz (ORF Act - ORF-G), Privatfernsehgesetz (Private Television Act) (now known as the Audiovisuelles Mediendienste-Gesetz - Audiovisual Media Services Act - AMD-G), Privatradiogesetz (Private Radio Act) and Fernseh-Exklusivrechtegesetz (Exclusive Television Rights Act - FERG). The decision...

On 17 June 2010 President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia signed into law the statute “On Introducing Amendments and Supplements to the RA Law ‘On Television and Radio’”. The document was adopted by the National Assembly (parliament) in the final second reading on 10 June 2010. The draft law was elaborated on by the Ministry of Economy and was justified by the need to switch from analog to digital broadcasting. This is the latest set of amendments to the broadcasting statute of Armenia (see IRIS 2010-5: 1/6 and IRIS 2008-1: 7/6). The amendments introduce a new text into the whole broadcasting statute,...

The EU’s Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has adopted an Opinion on data protection law as applied to behavioural advertising. In its Opinion, it gives legal guidance on legal issues related to the tracking of internet users when they surf the net. Amongst other issues, it addresses the permissibility of the use of cookies and it clarifies the legal responsibility of online content and advertising network providers under European data protection laws. Behavioural advertising involves the tracking of internet users’ online behaviour in view of the targeting of advertising to internet users...