The Regulation of On-line Video Websites:Lessons from the Audiovisual Media Services Directive
James Byrne BBLS16
th
August 2010Word Count: 14,955
(incl. footnotes, excl. bibliography and lists)
Table of Contents:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:.................................................................2ABSTRACT.................................................................................41. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................5
1.1 R
EGULATION
FOR
THE
AUDIOVISUAL
INTERNET
........................................................6
1.1.1˚ Online video websites and the law............................................71.1.2˚ Irish legislation relating to video websites.................................81.1.3˚ Non-state regulation of video websites......................................8
1.2 T
ECHNOLOGICAL
CHANGES
AFFECTING
THE
SCOPE
OF
THE
AVMS D
IRECTIVE
....................9
1.2.1˚ Push or pulled content – tiers of regulation.............................11
1.3 C
AN
WE
STILL
DEFINE
ONLINE
VIDEO
WEBSITES
SEPARATELY
FROM
BROADCASTER
SERVICES
FOR
THE
PURPOSES
OF
THE
AVMS D
IRECTIVE
?.............................................................13
1.3.1˚ User Generated Content liability..............................................141.3.2˚ Broadcasters online.................................................................14
2. EU BROADCAST REGULATION ONLINE....................................16
2.1 AVMS D
IRECTIVE
GOALS
APPLIED
TO
THE
INTERNET
.............................................16
2.1.1˚ Freedom of services in the EU.................................................162.1.2˚ Cultural protection...................................................................172.1.3˚ Protection of viewers...............................................................182.1.4˚ Tech-neutral definitions...........................................................18
2.2 T
HE
RATIONALE
FOR
LIGHT
TOUCH
REGULATION
....................................................19
2.2.1˚ On-demand dominance or force of design...............................19
2.3 I
RELAND
’
S
IMPLEMENTATION
.........................................................................20
3. HOW DOES THE AVMS DIRECTIVE AFFECT IRISH WEBSITEPROPRIETORS?........................................................................22
3.1 I
DENTIFYING
ON
-
DEMAND
AUDIOVISUAL
MEDIA
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
REGULATED
BY
THE
AVMSD
IRECTIVE
..................................................................................................22
3.1.1˚ Are you a ‘media service provider’?........................................223.1.2˚ Is the service within the jurisdiction of a member state of theEU?.....................................................................................................233.1.3˚ Is the service an ‘audiovisual media service’?.........................253.1.4˚ Is that audiovisual media service an ‘on-demand audiovisualmedia service’?..................................................................................263.1.5˚ Is that service exempted from regulation?..............................273.1.6˚ The actual scope of the regulation’s application.....................30
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3.2 I
DENTIFYING
ONLINE
TELEVISION
BROADCASTING
(
WEBCASTING
)
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
REGULATED
BY
THE
AVMS D
IRECTIVE
................................................................................31
3.2.1˚ Ambiguities in identifying regulated webcasting.....................313.2.2˚ Alternative definitions..............................................................32
3.3 C
HANGES
FOR
I
RISH
SERVICES
PROVIDERS
FOLLOWING
THE
AVMS D
IRECTIVE
................32
3.3.1˚ Potential benefits of regulation................................................333.3.2˚ Restrictions imposed...............................................................333.3.3˚ Audiovisual commercial communications................................34
3.4 R
EGULATORY
REGIMES
(
CO
-
REGULATION
)
AND
ENFORCEMENT
....................................36
3.4.1˚ Structural regulation................................................................38
4. LESSONS FROM THE AVMS DIRECTIVE...................................39
4.1 S
HORT
COMINGS
OF
THE
REGULATION
AND
SOLUTIONS
............................................39
4.1.1˚ Website design’s affect on the application of regulation.........394.1.2˚ Regulation’s affect on website design.....................................414.1.3˚ Unclear definition of programme.............................................414.1.4˚ Jurisdiction ambiguities............................................................42
4.2 F
URTHER
ISSUES
RELATING
TO
ON
-
LINE
VIDEO
WEBSITES
..........................................42
4.2.1˚ Privacy of viewing history........................................................424.2.2˚ Screen scraping audiovisual media services...........................43
5. CONCLUSION........................................................................45BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................47TABLE OF LEGISLATION............................................................52TABLE OF CASES......................................................................53
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