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The interpretation of the concept of broadcasting has been the subject of discussion in Germany for some time (see IRIS-6:9). At the heart of the problem is the treatment of the new media. Broadcasting is defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Broadcasting between the Federal States in United Germany (RStV) as presentation and dissemination to the general public of performances of any kind in words, sound or pictures using electrical vibrations with a conductor or without a connecting conductor. This raises the problem of the position of multi-media services. In particular there is the question...

The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to review a decision by a lower federal court, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, upholding as constitutional provisions of the 1992 Cable Act, which require cable operators to segregate indecent "access" channel programming onto a separate, "blocked" channel - unless it totally banned indirect material from its system to begin with. A subscriber could receive this channel only by affirmatively asking a cable operator to "unblock" the channel for a particular household. The lower court had held that this was the "least restrictive...

Following suspicion of the circulation of pornography among newsgroups on Internet, the State Prosecution Service in Munich instigated investigation proceedings against the German subsidiary of the on-line service CompuServe. These began with the impounding of private computers whose mailboxes were found to contain pornographic material. It is the view of the State Prosecution Service that the company CompuServe bears joint responsibility for the data circulating in its data network. In order to prevent offences being committed, checks must be made, using all available technical means, on whether...

The much-debated and anticipated federal Advertising Statute is a comprehensive Act that regulates advertising in Russia and aims to curb misleading and other unacceptable advertisements.The Statute is based on a draft proposed by the State Anti-monopoly Committee in 1994 and differs from a draft tabled around the same time by the Association of Advertising Agencies. The statute applies to both Russian and foreign entities and individuals involved in advertising in the Russian Federation. The Statute restricts, and from 1 January, completely prohibits alcohol and tobacco advertising on television....

The members of the Independent Television Commission decided on 14 September this year that the satellite channel, MTV Europe, should be required to pay financial penalties totalling £ 60,000 for three breaches of the ITC's Programme and Advertising Codes. The penalties incurred upon MTV Europe were based on the breach of Section 1.5 (i) of the Programme Code which states that material unsuitable for children must not be broadcast at times when large numbers of children may be expected to be watching. The terms of the MTV Europe licence require that the ITC's Codes are observed. Under Sections...