On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 16:26, Brian Butterworth <briant...@freeview.tv> wrote: > Out of interest, has anyone done a proper "legal" search on the proposals? > I'm under the impression that the mandate that puts all "public service" > content out without any form of proection is in primary legislation, various > Broadcasting Acts and Wireless Telegraphy Acts. > Ofcom's powers are limited to those provided to it under the Communications > Act 2003 and the set-up act Office of Communications Act 2002. > Ofcom only has power to issue licences that are legal, it does not have the > power to change the primary legislation. > Or have I missed something obvious here?
I did do some digging, though IANAL and it was only a cursory high-level search (and it was a while ago) >From memory, though, and this is just my skim-understanding: primary legislation covers EPG services as well as TV channels themselves and in much the same way to one another. Ofcom issues licenses for both, and both are bound by similar (and in many cases identical) rules. So, even if you accept that "the programmes will be broadcast in the clear", this doesn't change the fact that EPG data isn't unregulated. Now, what I don't know is: a) whether the fact that the EPG data is broadcast by a wholly-owned subsidiary rather than the Corporation makes any difference b) whether the PSB obligation applies to the EPG data in the first place (I'd guess yes, but would prefer confirmation of this) c) whether you'd need to mount a legal challenge in court to prove any of it if it turned out that Ofcom didn't, in fact, have the authority M. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
