TS News - European Court Against Belgian Cable Regulations

• From: martyn@twics.com (Martyn Williams)
• Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 17:54:42 +0900
• From owner-ts-news@tele-satellit.com Wed Sep 11 05: 01:55 1996

TELE-satellit News, 11 September 1996

European Court Against Belgian Cable Regulations
  BRUSSELS, Belgium, 96/09/11 (TS) -- The European Court has ruled laws that
Belgium imposes on its cable operators are unlawful. The regulations require
the networks to carry only approved foreign programming.

  The court agreed with the European Commission which had said the rules
were against the broadcasting without frontiers broadcasting regulations.
They had meant TNT Cartoon Network, which operates a joint channel in
Europe, had been unable to get onto Belgian cable network because it had not
been approved by the government.

  Belgium has opposed the channel because it does not meet European
broadcasting regulations that require 50% of the output of a TV channel to
be of European content, where possible. The granting of a licence, from the
UK in the case of TNT Cartoon Network, means no other EU state has the right
to stop reception, except in "exceptional circumstances."

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.

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