[FYI] UK: Implementation of Conditional Access Directive

["Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>]

http://www.patent.gov.uk/dpolicy/accdirec.html

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Implementation of Conditional Access Directive  

Article 6 of Directive 98/84/EC on the legal protection of 
conditional access services requires Member States to transpose the 
Directive into national law by 28 May 2000. Draft Regulations 
amending the current UK regime in this area (sections 297-299 of the 
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) have been prepared. The 
draft Statutory Instrument and a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment 
(RIA) may be viewed and downloaded by clicking here. The text of the 
Directive can be viewed on the web site of the European Community:  

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1998/en_398L0084.html  

The purpose of the Directive is to create a uniform legal environment 
for the protection of conditional access services, that is, services 
offered to the public where access is subject to payment of 
subscriptions such as pay-TV. The Directive requires Member States to 
prohibit, and provide suitable sanctions against, the manufacture and 
commercial dealing in illegal decoders, smart cards and the like. UK 
law already addresses this important subject, and the Regulations 
simply bring the list of infringing activities into line with the 
requirements of the Directive, and clarify that the regime applies to 
services transmitted from any place in the EU. Full information is 
set out in the draft RIA, including the results of earlier 
consultations on the Directive.  

As required by Community law, it is intended that these Regulations 
will be made and laid before Parliament in order to enter into force 
before the due date, and Copyright Directorate would therefore be 
grateful if any comments you may wish to make on the draft Statutory 
Instrument and RIA could reach us as soon as possible, and certainly 
no later than 22 March 2000. In setting this rather short deadline we 
have borne in mind the limited scope of the Directive, the positive 
reaction of UK interests to earlier consultations, and the fact that 
the proposed changes to UK law will not impose burdens on legitimate 
business. It is essential that the message of a reinforced crackdown 
on those dealing in pirate devices and services is made clear by 
timely implementation of this important Directive.  

Comments should be sent to Teresa Arnesen, Copyright Directorate, The 
Patent Office, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie street, London, EC4Y 
8DP: e-mail to copyright@patent.gov.uk. In particular, we would 
welcome any additional quantitative information on the likely 
benefits of the improved legal protection for UK interests.  

(Please note that responses to this consultation will normally be 
made public and respondents are requested to indicate their agreement 
to this when commenting. Where respondents request confidentiality, 
they should, in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to 
Government Information, provide a summary of their response and a 
specific reason why their full response should remain confidential.)  

 Last updated 24 February 2000

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For details, see:

  http://www.patent.gov.uk/dpolicy/pdf/draftsi.pdf

  http://www.patent.gov.uk/dpolicy/pdf/draftreg.pdf