Publications

European communications and competition policy has a tradition on access obligations as primary tool to discipline exclusive control over so called bottleneck facilities. In the 2007 Communication on the Review of the European Communications Framework, the European Commission stressed once more the importance of access rules as a tool to realize consumer welfare, competition and user rights, notably the right for users to access and distribute lawful content. This article will place some critical reflections on access obligations. Using the example of bottlenecks in digital broadcasting, it will show that access obligations that were successfully applied to traditional bottleneck situations are not necessarily the best or effective way of guaranteeing openness of the digital service market. The example of digital broadcasting is for many reasons interesting.

The changing role of users of audiovisual services might eventually shake the very base of traditional media policy. It is early days yet. It is certainly not too early, however, to become aware of changes and muse about possible implications for media law and policy. The objective of this article is to scrutinize some aspects of traditional government involvement with audiovisual media from the perspective of the changing role of the users. Aspects that will be discussed include the justification for government intervention in the first place, the image of the user, the character of intervention and the new issues that are likely to play a role in future media law and policy. The point of reference will be the revised proposal for a Directive on the Regulation of Audiovisual Media Services.