Ofcom flags concerns over pay-TV market – The Times
“The communications regulator has identified ‘warning signs’ for future competition in the British pay-television market”.
The Times, 18th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Category: media
Inquiry conclusions on Sky’s ITV stake are expected soon – The Times
“John Hutton, the Business and Enterprise Secretary, is expected to publish within the next week the Competition Commission’s conclusions from its inquiry into the legitimacy of BSkyB’s shareholding in ITV.”
The Times, 12th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
‘Sadistic’ video game beats ban – The Guardian
“A video game banned for its ‘casual sadism’ will be released in Britain after its makers yesterday won an appeal against censors. Manhunt 2, the first game in a decade to be banned, was prohibited by the British Board of Film Classification in June for its ‘unrelenting focus on brutal slaying’.”
The Guardian, 11th December 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judges to be given media training – BBC News
“Five senior judges are to be trained in how to handle the media so that they can explain controversial sentencing decisions, peers have been told.”
BBC News, 6th December 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Springer opera court fight fails – BBC News
“A Christian group has lost its High Court battle to prosecute the BBC’s director general over the screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera, in 2005.”
BBC News, 5th December 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
I’m getting back to before it started, says former suspect Colin Stagg – The Guardian
“It is, Colin Stagg ardently hopes, all over. That was what he said in an email yesterday in which he explained why he never, ever, wanted to talk to the media again and hoped to return to the anonymous life he led before he was arrested 15 years ago for the murder of Rachel Nickell in front of her son, Alex, on Wimbledon Common.”
The Guardian, 1st December 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Mail pays for violating Blairs’ privacy – The Guardian
“Tony Blair and his wife Cherie have won substantial damages for infringement of privacy from Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Evening Standard.”
The Guardian, 23rd November 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Police action over TV film ‘undermined free speech’ – The Times
“MPs have accused West Midlands Police of seeking to undermine freedom of speech by making a ‘perverse’ complaint about a Channel 4 programme that exposed extremism in a British mosque.”
The Times, 20th November 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Christians seek right to sue BBC for blasphemy – The Guardian
“A Christian group trying to prosecute the producer and broadcaster of Jerry Springer – The Opera under blasphemy laws will take its case to the high court in London today.”
The Guardian, 20th November 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Warning to media at Dando appeal reopens debate on court coverage – The Guardian
“At the start of the appeal last week into the conviction of Barry George for the murder of Jill Dando, the lord chief justice fired a broadside at those who sought to influence the outcome of the hearing in either direction.”
The Guardian, 12th November 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Channel 4 cleared over N-word row – The Guardian
“Channel 4 has been cleared of breaching broadcasting regulations over its decision to transmit an incident in which a Big Brother contestant used a racially offensive word to describe another housemate.”
The Guardian, 5th November 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
ITV checks if phone votes were ignored in The X-Factor – The Times
“ITV is examining fresh allegations of phone-in irregularities on The X Factor, a fortnight after the broadcaster was forced to own up to deceiving viewers out of £8 million on other programmes.”
The Times, 3rd November 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Court rejects media gag order in Bermuda – Reuters
“Bermuda’s media should not be banned from reporting further extracts from a leaked police dossier about corruption at the British territory’s public housing corporation, London’s Privy Council ruled on Monday.”
Reuters, 30th October 2007
Source: www.reuters.com
‘Convergence’ is not an excuse to regulate the internet – The Times
“The line between old and new media is becoming increasingly blurred. So why not do away with broadcast regulation altogether, asks Graham Smith.”
The Times, 22nd October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Kommunikationsbehörde Austria v Österreichischer Rundfunk (Case C-195/06) – WLR Daily
Kommunikationsbehörde Austria v Österreichischer Rundfunk
“The offer by a TV broadcaster to viewers to participate in a prize game by immediately dialling a premium rate telephone could constitute ‘teleshopping’ and ‘television advertising’ within Directive 89/552.”
WLR Daily, 22nd October 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note: once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
High drama of appeals at new supreme court may go out on television – The Times
“Cameras will be allowed to broadcast hearings before Britain’s highest court when the new supreme court opens for business, The Times has learnt.”
The Times, 22nd October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
ITV faces £70m fine after viewers cheated out of millions on premium phone-ins – The Guardian
“ITV last night faced the prospect of a fine of up to £70m after some of its flagship Saturday night shows were at the centre of the most blatant examples yet of viewer deceit involving premium phone lines.”
The Guardian, 19th October 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Call for babies’ watchdog after TV reality show sparks alarm – The Guardian
“An ethics watchdog should be set up to monitor reality TV programmes involving babies, according to healthcare visitors and children’s charities, whose attention has focused on the controversial Channel 4 show Bringing Up Baby, in which new parents tried out hardline parenting in their child’s early weeks.”
The Guardian, 19th October 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Murray v Express Newspapers plc and Another – Times Law Reports
Celebrities enjoy no extra right to privacy
Murray v Express Newspapers plc and Another
“Where an individual was engaged in innocuous, routine activity in a public place, such as a street, that activity attracted no right or expectation of privacy and, accordingly, there was no prohibition on the taking or publishing of photographs of famous people engaged in such activity in a public place unless there were special circumstances such as harassment or distress caused to the individual.”
The Times, 4th October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Web entry not enough for TV competitions, says Gambling Commission – OUT-LAW.com
“Live television competition operators cannot simply offer a free internet entry form in order to escape their competitions being regulated as lotteries, according to new guidance from the Gambling Commission.”
OUT-LAW.com, 3rd October 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
