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On 16 May 2001, following a highly controversial episode in a reality show, the Alta Autoridade para a Comunicação Social (the High Authority for the Media) decided to take a stand on the issue. On 15 May 2001, during prime time, the private terrestrial channel Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC) broadcast an emotional row between a contestant in Bar da TV (a "Big Brother" type of programme) and her parents. Shocked by erotic behaviour in Bar da TV, the parents of a female contestant, Margarida, asked the production team to let them talk to their daughter. The live broadcast of a tearful...

In April 2001, the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Madrid decided to pass a new Act on Audiovisual Content and Additional Services. This Act implements some provisions of the national Act 25/1994 (as amended by Act 22/1999), which incorporates the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive into Spanish Law. The new Madrid Act deals expressly with the protection of minors and with the right of TV users to receive accurate information on the programme planning of TV channels, as recognised by Article 18 of Act 25/1994. It ought to be pointed out that this new Madrid Act does not cover some...

In mid-May, the Saarland regional government published a draft Media Bill which, for the first time in the history of German media legislation, would establish a single regulatory framework for the press, broadcasting and new media. The Bill aims to create a legal framework which emphasises the freedom of all mass media to fulfil their public duties, to lay down common minimum standards for the protection of important social values (particularly human dignity) and interests (mainly the protection of minors and consumers), to promote self-regulation by the media and media supervisory bodies as...

A year ago, as required by Article 26 of the Directive itself, the Commission began preparing for a review of the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive 89/552/EEC as amended by Directive 97/36/EC, by publishing a call for tender for various studies relating to different parts of the text. Reports on the quota system (Art. 4-6, see infra) and on the impact of TV advertising and teleshopping on minors were also commissioned. According to the Education and Culture Commissioner, the review of the Directive will focus particularly on a liberalisation of the provisions on advertising, sponsorship...

In the cases of B. and P. v. the United Kingdom, the applicants complained that they had been barred from divulging information about the proceedings on custody rights over their children. The judge dealing with the case had ordered that no documents used in the proceedings should be disclosed outside the court. B. had also been warned by the judge that any publication of information obtained in the context of the proceedings would amount to contempt of court. As the case was not heard in public and the judgments were not publicly pronounced, B. and P. complained in Strasbourg that these restricting...