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On 21 December 2010 the State Duma (parliament) adopted at the third and last reading the bill “О защите детей от информации, причиняющей вред их здоровью и развитию” (On the Protection of Minors against Information Detrimental to their Health and Development) (see IRIS 2009-8/29), which was signed into law by the President on 29 December 2010. It comes into force on 1 September 2012. The new federal statute shall regulate “products of the mass media, printed materials, audiovisual materials on any material object, computer programmes and databases, as well as information disseminated by means...

Romania’s Audiovisual Law could be changed, according to a Draft on the amendment and completion of the Legea Audiovizualului nr. 504/2002 (Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002) proposed mid-February 2011 by four deputies of the Democrat-Liberal Party, the major component of the ruling coalition (see inter alia IRIS 2009-2/29, IRIS 2010-1/36 and IRIS 2010-9/34). The Draft, which was withdrawn, corrected and proposed again in less than ten days, is mainly intended to merge the existing Audiovisual Law with most of the provisions of the Audiovisual Content Regulatory Code (Decision no. 187/2006 - Audiovisual...

On 17 of December 2010 a package of legislation specific to the media was enacted in Luxembourg. In addition to the modifications made to the Law on Electronic Media (see IRIS 2011-2/31) which transposes the EU Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive, several regulations have been amended in parallel (see IRIS 2011-4/29). The amendments principally aim at bringing the executing regulations into line with the new version of the Electronic Media Law of 2010 (see IRIS 2011-2/31). The two regulations on the promotion of European works and on commercial communication have, however, been changed...

On 17 January 2011 the rules for the establishment of electronic programme guides (EPGs) were published in the official Portuguese news bulletin, Diário da República. EPGs consist of TV screen software applications which allow users to search for present and future programmes and all other TV services offered by operators (e.g., video on demand, pay-per-view, parental control systems). This initiative is the result of powers attributed to the State media regulatory entity (Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social - ERC). According to its Statutes (Article 24, no. 3, paragraph r), approved...

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has issued new rules on product placement following the Government’s decision to permit it subject to restrictions (see IRIS 2010-8/33). The new rules are contained in the revised Broadcast Code and came into effect on 28 February 2011. Product placement is allowed in films (including dramas and documentaries), TV series (including soaps), entertainment shows and sports programmes. The new rules clarify that single dramas fall within the genre of ‘films made for television’ where product placement may take place. But it will be prohibited in all children’s...