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On 13 July, the Court of Justice of the European Communities delivered its judgment in the two cases concerning the French law which bans indirect advertising of alcoholic beverages (Loi Evin). The Court follows the Opinion of its Advocate General, dated 11 March 2004 (see IRIS 2004-4: 3 also for the content of the French provisions). Advocate General Tizzano decided in favour of the compatibility with Community law of the French legislation on tobacco and alcohol addiction ("the Loi Evin ") and of the code of conduct drawn up by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (the French audiovisual regulatory...

Sweden has made amendments to the Radio and Television Act to the effect that short overruns of the permitted advertising time per hour can be accepted if they were unforeseen. Sweden has stricter rules on the amount of permitted advertising than is stipulated in the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive. According to the Swedish Radio and Television Act, advertising may be broadcast for not more than 8 minutes in each clock hour. In television broadcasts this amount may be extended to not more than 10 minutes during broadcasting hours between7.00 p.m. and midnight. The amount of advertising...

On 20 August 2004 President Putin signed the Statute amending the Statute On Advertising of 18 July 1995. The new Statute, adopted earlier by the State Duma, entered into legal force 10 days after the date of its publication. The new Statute imposes a number of restrictions on advertising of beer and beer-based products. The Statute regulates both the content and rules of placement of beer and beer-based product advertisements in the mass media. Such advertisements shall not contain information assuring viewers that the drinking of these beverages is harmless and (or) healthy, thirst-quenching,...

The BCI, which is the regulatory authority for the commercial broadcasting sector, has acted in recent months to prevent certain advertisements and news items being broadcast. With regard to advertisements, the BCI in June 2004 banned advertisements for an anti-war concert. It did so on the basis that they contravened the Radio and Television Act 1988, which prohibits political and religious advertising and advertising in relation to a trade dispute (see IRIS 2001-7: 9, IRIS 2003-2: 11, IRIS 2004-3: 10). The concert was planned to take place in advance of the visit to Ireland of President Bush....

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is required by the Communications Act 2003 to promote the development of effective forms of co- and self- regulation (for the Act see IRIS 2003-8: 10). After consultation, Ofcom has now published its approach and the criteria that will be used for promoting co- and self- regulation. The criteria in fact mainly cover co-regulation rather than self-regulation where it is noted that there is an absence of regulatory oversight; examples given of co-regulation are the regulation of telecommunications premium-rate services, arrangements for dispute resolution and...