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Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has fined the BBC GBP 50,000 for the unfair conduct of a premium rate telephone competition. It is the first time that the BBC has been fined. A report commissioned by Ofcom has also found that there are systematic failures in compliance in the running of such competitions by a large number of broadcasters; the costs to competitors of such unfair treatment may run into millions of pounds. The BBC case concerned a telephone competition run on the BBC children’s programme “Blue Peter”. It was unusual in two ways; firstly because the proceeds went, not to the...

On 4 May 2007, the Turkish Parliament adopted the Turkish Code 5651, which regulates Internet contents and stipulates crimes committed via the Internet (see IRIS 2007-5: 19). The first part of the Code regulates criminal law matters, whereas the second part concerns civil law aspects. According to the Code, access to a website shall be banned, if there is sufficient suspicion that certain crimes are being committed via that Internet website. Those crimes are: (i) the encouraging of people to commit suicide, (ii) the sexual abuse of children, (iii) the facilitation of the abuse of drugs, (iv) the...

“Manhunt 2”, made by Rockstar Games for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, cannot be legally supplied for the time being within the UK. This follows the decision by the British Board of Film Classification - BBFC not to give it a classification. In 2003,“Manhunt 1” was classified “18”, i.e., no-one under 18 may rent or buy it. The BBFC stated that the principal reasons underlying its decision included: - The unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying;- The sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which killings are committed; and - its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone....

Наказателен кодекс (the Bulgarian Criminal Code) has recently been amended. One of the amendments concerns the introduction of a new criminal offence for the distribution of pornographic materials by all types of media operating in the territory of Bulgaria. A new definition of “pornographic material” has been added to Article 93, item 28 of the Criminal Act. Namely, "Pornographic material" is defined as a material which is indecent, unacceptable or incompatible with public morals and which depicts in an open manner a sexual conduct. Such conduct shall be action, which expresses real or simulated...

The Slovenian Media Act stipulates, in Article 84, para. 6, that the Minister for Culture is responsible for the issuing of “visual symbols”, i.e. pictograms, and for the modes of their application. Aside from the Media Act, the ministerial document is the only legislative tool for content regulation in the general practice of television programming in Slovenia, which is aimed at the protection of children and minors from potentially harmful materials. The document is literally entitled Pravilnik o določitvi vizualnega in akustičnega opozorila za programske vsebine, ki niso primerne za otroke in...