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On 4 January 2013, the Magyar Köztársaság Alkotmánybíróság (Constitutional Court of Hungary) annulled the new Election Act which a.o. amended regulations on political advertising. The provisions gave the exclusive right to disseminate political advertisements to the public service media. Subsequent to the ruling, the government submitted a draft amendment to the Magyarország Alaptörvénye (Fundamental Law, Constitution of Hungary). The content of the amendment implements the wording of the provision, which the Constitutional Court had eliminated, into the Constitution. On 26 November 2012, Hungary’s...

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has decided that a number of sponsorship credits were in breach of its Broadcasting Code. These are credits that identify the sponsors of programmes, as is required for reasons of transparency. Indeed, the Code requires that sponsorship is clearly identified by credits that make clear the identity of the sponsor and the relations between the sponsor and the sponsored content. However, credits do not count as part of the advertising permitted under the AVMS Directive, and in order to prevent the credits from effectively becoming extra advertising, they must...

According to media reports, the discussion of the Federal Government’s “anti-scam bill” was taken off the agenda of the cabinet meeting on 6 February 2013. It is thought that recent criticism has triggered a further need for consultation. The current ministerial bill contains a series of provisions designed to prohibit certain practices relating to the mass distribution of warning letters, particularly concerning copyright infringements, as well as shady business models used by telesales firms and collection agencies. For example, subscriptions or competition entries completed over the telephone...

On 6 February 2013, the stakeholders in the television advertising industry - advertisers, communication agencies, and providers of audiovisual media services - adopted a common standard for the regulation of loudness in advertising on the basis of a Общо споразумение (self-regulatory General Agreement). The application of the standard will ensure the balance of separate elements of television programmes. This addresses frequent consumer complaints about drastic differences in sound levels especially between the audiovisual advertising and other programme elements. The standard has been elaborated...

On 19 February 2013, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its latest reports on Ireland and Liechtenstein, adopted in the fourth monitoring cycle of the laws, policies and practices to combat racism in the member states of the Council of Europe (commentary on previous reports see IRIS 2003-5/3, IRIS 2005-7/2 and IRIS 2007-8/102). Only the report on Ireland contains a section focusing specifically on the media/Internet. In its fourth report, ECRI welcomes the positive developments in Ireland, including the establishment of the Office of the Press Ombudsman and...