In the public interest
IRIS Plus 2006-3: Protection of Minors from Harmful Information in the Law of Post-Soviet States
The angle chosen in this IRIS plus is to inform about the difficulties of establishing standards, procedures and justified limits to the right to information in countries with a more recent tradition of free mass media and the challenges they pose for protecting the youth.
IRIS Plus 2006-2: Major Events and Reporting Rights
Starting with a brief explanation of the various links between major events, media and society, this article describes the provisions of European law on the broadcasting of major events.
IRIS Plus 2006-1: Search Engines: Seek and Ye Shall Find? The Position of Search Engines in Law
What are search engines really? How, if at all, are they regulated? Why would they come under regulation? How do they compare to other technological means that we use in the process of asking for and receiving information electronically? These are questions tackled by this IRIS plus article,...
IRIS Special 2005 - To Have or Not to Have Must-Carry Rules
Must-carry rules are one string in the regulators' bow regarding their efforts to ensure that all viewers may enjoy a certain basic content package. The establishment of new distribution platforms for television content (mainly cable) seemed to call this aim into question. It was feared that...
IRIS Special 2005: Tomorrow's Delivery of Audiovisual Services - Legal Questions Raised by Digital Broadcasting and Mobile Reception
After taking stock of developments on the television market generally, this IRIS Special begins with a description of how digital terrestrial television has developed and the different services that have become possible as a result of digitalisation. It then goes on to look at those aspects of...
IRIS Plus 2005-5: Application of EC Competition Policy regarding Agreements and State Aid in the Audiovisual Field
This IRIS plus links up to the earlier IRIS plus 2003-6 on "European Public Film Support within the WTO Framework" in that both articles examine the double nature of audiovisual goods and services and its impact on supranational regulation.
IRIS Plus 2005-4: Digital Rights Management from a Consumer's Perspective
This IRIS plus deals with DRM from the consumer's perspective in an effort to enhance people's understanding of this aspect of DRM.
IRIS Plus 2005-1: Access to Information on Government Action, especially from the Media Point of View
Taking into consideration the citizen's direct and indirect avenues to information, this IRIS plus outlines the right of accessing information as enshrined in international and European law as well as guaranteed on a national level.
IRIS Special 2004 - Political Debate and the Role of the Media - The Fragility of Free Speech
This IRIS Special examines the significant issue of whether the media should be doing what they are able to do when it comes to political debate.
IRIS Special 2004 - Regulating Access to Digital Television - Technical Bottlenecks, Vertically-integrated Markets and New Forms of Media Concentration
Every single aspect of digital television is affected by the question of access control: the compilation and preparation of content to be transported; the transmission and reception of content (encrypted or not), including the necessary technical devices; content bundling; programme selection...