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Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has issued new guidance on commercial references and programming on 2 June 2014. This supplements existing provisions in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (section 9) which aim to secure editorial independence in programming, to ensure that there is a distinction between editorial content and advertising, to prevent surreptitious advertising, to protect consumers and to prevent unsuitable sponsorship. The new guidance advises that a programme about a product or service, such as a holiday destination or a high-street retailer, is likely to test the distinction between...

The process of revising the Decree on On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services of 12 March 2010 (see IRIS 2011-1/26) continues. Following on from the audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) submitting a report to the Government in November 2013 in which it made a number of proposals for amending the text (see IRIS 2014-2/20), the Minister for Culture and Communication embarked on a public consultation at the beginning of June with a view to obtaining comments from the stakeholders concerned. The aim is to determine what the follow-up should be to the recommendations...

According to an inspection of 14 video and music streaming services by the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentrale (Federation of German Consumer Organisations - vzbv), a total of 130 of the general terms and conditions used by the service providers were unlawful because they put consumers at an unreasonable disadvantage. The vzbv has announced that it has so far cautioned 20 operators including Napster, Watchever, Spotify, Simfy and Amazon. As well as clauses restricting users’ warranty rights or operators’ liability, the vzbv questioned the operators’ right to block or withdraw their services at...

In a ruling of 29 April 2014, the Oberverwaltungsgericht Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate Administrative Appeal Court - OVG) decided that an insert used to introduce a commercial break infringed rules on the separation of TV programmes and advertisements because it contained a programme announcement. During a break between two early evening programmes, TV broadcaster SAT.1 had broadcast inserts that included the word “Werbung” (advertising). The inserts also contained programme announcements for a boxing match and the programme “The Voice of Germany”. The Landeszentrale für Medien und Kommunikation...

The Statute Про Суспільне телебачення і радіомовлення України (“On Public Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine”), adopted by the Supreme Rada on 17 April 2014, was promulgated by the acting President Turchinov and enters into force on 15 May 2014. The law replaces the 1997 statute on the System of Public Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine (IRIS 1998-4/10), which has never been enforced. The Statute envisions that all state-run TV, radio companies, including regional and world services, shall be transformed into a joint entity under the control of civil society. The Statute establishes...