In the public interest
IRIS Plus 2010-4: Public Service Media: Money for Content
There have been many public statements on the funding of public service broadcasting and the expectations associated with it. As far as the European Union is concerned, mention might be made of the Communication from the Commission of 27 October 2009 on the application of state aid rules to...
IRIS Plus 2010-2: Digital Cinema
The European cinema of the near future will be digital. This much seems to be agreed upon by anyone who has a say in the matter. But the road there requires special efforts and may indeed be long and winding. This IRIS plus asks where we stand in the roll-out of digital cinema and it does so with...
IRIS Plus 2010-1: Digital Television
Imagine turning on your television and not receiving any signal. For an increasing number of television viewers this could have been the case had they not re-equipped themselves for digital television. To mention only the early birds: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden completed the...
IRIS Plus 2009-6: The "Telecoms Review": New Impetus for Audiovisual Media?
This IRIS plus examines the review of the European telecommunications regulatory framework. The lead article is as multilayered as the theme itself. Market regulation, spectrum policy, new distribution methods, interoperability, network neutrality, investment protection, "must-carry" obligations,...
IRIS Plus 2009-4: The Public Service Remit and the New Media
This IRIS plus discusses the involvement of public service broadcasting in the new media. The author examines to what extent and under what conditions the public service remit covers such an involvement and where the limits to legitimate state funding currently lie. She therefore goes in some...
IRIS Special 2009: Creativity Comes at a Price
The signatories to the European Social Charter underline in its Preamble the fact that the standard of living and the social-well being of their populations are key to safeguarding human rights. In all likelihood they were similarly aware of how central this is for the prospering of their markets.
IRIS Plus 2009-2: Filtering the Internet for Copyrighted Content in Europe
One issue that has been frequently discussed in the IRIS plus series is the unauthorised supply of copyright protected works via the Internet. The resulting threat of copyright infringements could, at least partly, be prevented through the use of Internet filters, an option that forms the subject...
IRIS Special 2008 - Searching for Audiovisual Content
In 1989/90 Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web (WWW) for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Barely 20 years old, it has made an unprecedented impact on the way we deal with information. The WWW has Become a key resource for private life and business. To Each of us it...
IRIS Plus 2008-6: Progress in the Must-offer Debate? Exclusivity in Media and Communication
This IRIS plus looks at the various dimensions of exclusivity in media and communication. This IRIS plus considers the current debate on whether the obligation to transmit (must-carry) certain content should be replaced or at least supplemented by an obligation to offer such content (must-offer)....
IRIS Plus 2008-5: Audiovisual Media Services and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive
Consumer interests take a prominent place in the law of audiovisual media services. This IRIS plus explains to what extent and why. It also tells its readers how the general legal principles relate to media-specific legislation.