8 JULY 2001. - An Act to amend the Act of 30 March 1995 concerning broadcasting distribution networks and the exercise of broadcasting activities in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital (1) (2)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - General provision
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER II. - Provisions relating to the use of standards for the transmission of television signals
Art. 2. This chapter transposes the provisions of Directive 95/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 24 October 1995 on the use of standards for the transmission of television signals.
Art. 3. In the Dutch text of the title of the Act of 30 March 1995 concerning broadcasting distribution networks and the exercise of broadcasting activities in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital, the word "Televisieomroepactiviteiten" is replaced by the word "Omroepactiviteiten".
Art. 4. Article 1^er the Act of 30 March 1995 concerning broadcasting distribution networks and the exercise of broadcasting activities in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital is supplemented as follows:
« 7. clutch: all operations intended to render intelligible a radio or video signal of a television broadcasting service to any person who does not have the required access titles;
8. conditional access system: all of the hardware and software used either by one or more subscriber management systems, or by the public itself in the context of local access management, to restrict access to all or part of one or more broadcasting services to the public with the required access titles;
9. trans-control: the process for changing conditional access systems without touching on the clutch signal of a television broadcasting service; "
Art. 5. Section 4 of the Act is supplemented by the following paragraph:
"The King determines the general conditions for the operation of a radio and cable network. »
Art. 6. An article 8bis, which reads as follows, is inserted in the same law:
"Art. 8bis. § 1^er. The authorized distributor has the right to carry out, at its own expense, on or under the places, roads, streets, trails, watercourses and canals that are part of the public domain, any work inherent in the establishment and maintenance of cables and related equipment of its radio and cable distribution network, provided that it complies with the laws and decrees relating to the use of the public domain and respect the use to which it is assigned.
Before exercising this right, the interested distributor must submit to the approval of the authority under which the public domain, the layout of the location, and the installation time of the conductors are located.
This authority will have to decide within three months of the date of shipment of the trace and give notice of its decision to the distributor concerned.
After this period, the silence of the authority is approved.
In the event of persistent protest, it is decided by Royal Decree.
The public authorities, in any case, have the right to amend the provisions or layout of a facility and the works related to it at a later date. If the amendments are imposed either for a public safety reason or for the preservation of a site, or for the interest of the road, watercourses, canals or public service, or as a result of a change made by the residents to the access to the properties along the lines borrowed, the work costs are borne by the distributor; in other cases, they are responsible for the authority that imposes the amendments. The latter may require a preliminary estimate and, in the event of disagreement, carry out the work itself.
§ 2. The distributor also has the right to establish, on a permanent basis, brackets and anchorages for cables and related equipment of its radio and cable network on the walls and facades leading to the public track and to establish their cables in an open and unbuilt field or to pass them without attachment or contact over private properties.
The work will only start after a duly established notification, made in writing to the owners according to the cadastre data, tenants and residents.
The execution of this work does not result in any dispossession.
The attachment of supports and anchors on walls or facades cannot hinder the owner's right to demolish or repair his property.
Underground cables and supports established in an open and unbuilt field shall be removed at the request of the owner, if the owner uses the right to construct or close; The removal fee will be charged to the distributor.
However, the owner must notify the distributor under recommended bend to the position at least three months before undertaking the work referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5.
§ 3. Compensation for damages resulting from the establishment or operation of a radio or cable network is entirely dependent on the distributor, who remains responsible for all adverse consequences to third parties.
§ 4. The distributor is required to give immediate action to any requisition of the Belgian Institute for Postal and Telecommunications Services or any electrical power distribution service or undertaking, with a view to immediately halting any disruption or harmful influence in the operation of telephone, telegraphic or electrical energy distribution facilities. Failing to meet this requisition, the measures deemed necessary, including the movement of cables and related equipment, will be ordered by the interested services or companies at the expense. risk and risk of the distributor. »
Art. 7. Section 4 of the Act is included in chapter III of the Act, as follows:
“Section 4. - Television signal transmission standards
Art. 40 bis. Any television broadcasting organization authorized by the appropriate Minister shall:
1° if it is in a wide format in 625 lines and is not entirely digital, use the D2-MAC 16: 9 or a 16: 9 transmission system fully compatible with PAL or SECAM systems.
A wide-format television service consists of programs produced and edited to be presented to the public on a wide-format screen.
Format 16: 9 is the broad-format television service reference format;
2° if it is high definition and is not entirely digital, use the HD-MAC transmission system;
3° if it is fully digital, use a transmission system that has been standardized by a recognized European standardization body. In this regard, a transmission system includes the following elements: training of program signals (coding of source of audio signals, coding of source of video signals, multiplexing of signals) and adapting to the means of transmission (channel encoding, modulation and, if applicable, energy dispersion).
All digital transmission networks, open to the public for the distribution of television services, must be able to distribute broad-based services.
Art. 40ter. The distribution of television broadcasting services in broad format 16: 9, whether digital or not, must use the same format.
Art. 40quater. Equipment capable of disassembleing the signals of digital television broadcasting services, whether sold, leased or made available to the general public, shall allow the disassembly of these signals according to the common European interference algorithm administered by a recognized European standardization body and the reproduction of signals that have been transmitted in clear condition that, in the case of the equipment considered contract, the tenant shall be entitled to the lease.
Art. 40quinquies. The distributor and any television broadcasting organization authorized by the appropriate Minister shall use only conditional access systems with the technical capacity required for inexpensive transcontrol at the cable head level.
The distributor must be able to exercise at any time total control over the television programs or services offered on the cable using decoders or conditional access systems.
Art. 40sexies. Any television receiver equipped with a full display of a visible diagonal greater than 42 centimetres that is put on the market for sale or rental must be equipped with at least an open interface socket, as standardized by a recognized European standardization body, allowing simple connection of peripheral equipment and, in particular, additional decoders and digital receivers.
Art. 40s. Are forbidden:
1. the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, rental or commercial detention of illicit devices;
2. the installation, maintenance or replacement for commercial purposes of an illegal device;
3. the use of commercial communications to promote illicit devices. »
CHAPTER III. - Provisions relating to the exercise of television broadcasting activities
Art. 8. This chapter transposes the provisions of Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC for the coordination of certain legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the exercise of television broadcasting activities.
Art. 9. Article 1^er the Act of 30 March 1995 concerning broadcasting distribution networks and the exercise of broadcasting activities in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital is supplemented as follows:
“10.” television advertising: any form of television message, whether against similar remuneration or payment, or for the purpose of broadcasting for self-promotion by a public or private enterprise the framework of a commercial, industrial or artisanal activity or a liberal profession in order to promote the provision for payment, of goods or services, including immovable goods, or of rights and obligations;
11. clandestine advertising: the verbal or visual presentation of goods, services, name, mark or activities of a producer of goods or service provider in programs, where this presentation is made for advertising purposes and may mislead the public on the nature of such a presentation. A presentation is considered intentional in particular when made against similar remuneration or payment;
12. sponsorship: any contribution from a public or private enterprise, not carrying out television broadcasting activities or the production of audiovisual works, to the financing of television programs, with the aim of promoting its name, brand, image, activities or achievements;
13. tele-purchase: the dissemination of direct offers to the public for the provision, on payment, of goods or services, including immovable goods, or of rights and obligations;
14. Protected service: a protected service is one of the following services, provided that it is provided for payment and on the basis of conditional access:
- television broadcasting;
- sound broadcasting;
- the services of the information society;
or provision of conditional access to the above-mentioned services, considered as a full service;
15. conditional access: any measure and/or technical device that provides access to the protected service in an intelligible form to an individual prior authorization;
16. conditional access device: any equipment or software designed or adapted to allow access to a protected service in an intelligible form;
17. related services: the installation, maintenance or replacement of conditional access devices and the provision of commercial communications services related to these devices or protected services;
18. unlawful device: any equipment or software designed or adapted to allow access to a protected service in an intelligible form without the authorization of the service provider. »
Art. 10. In section 9 of the Act, the words "in which the number of subscribers, the programs distributed and the services offered" are included in the words "and whose content is specified and/or extended by the competent minister."
Art. 11. It is inserted an article 12bis at subsection 1^re Section 2 to Chapter II of the Act, as follows:
"Art. 12bis. The King shall, by Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, establish the minimum percentage of the technical capacity to distribute the cable television network devoted to broadcasting. »
Art. 12. Section 14 of the Act, amended by the Act of 7 May 1999. is completed as follows:
" - the television programmes broadcast by any broadcasting organization established outside of a Member State of the European Union but using a frequency or satellite capacity granted by a Member State of the European Union or a rising connection to a satellite located in a Member State of the European Union.
The distributor shall notify the appropriate minister of the programs it distributes. »
Art. 13. In the same law, it is inserted in chapter III, section 1^re, article 28bis, as follows:
"Art. 28bis. § 1^er. The King shall annually establish, by Royal Decree, a list of events that he considers to be of major importance to one or more bodies of his choice. These events may not be the subject of an exclusive rights exercise by a television broadcasting organization, in such a way that a significant part of the public is deprived of access to these events, through television programs broadcast on a free-access television.
The King determines whether the events must be transmitted live or deferred, in whole or by extracts.
The King determines the manner in which the above-mentioned events must be accessible.
§ 2. Television broadcasting organizations refrain from exercising exclusive rights two years after the coming into force of this Act, in such a way that they would deprive access, through a free-access program service, to major events that have been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, an important part of the public of a Member State of the European Union. They comply with the specific conditions set out in the publication of the above-mentioned lists, which relate to live, deferred, in whole or by extracts. »
Art. 14. In sections 29 and 30 of the Act, the words "and tele-purchase" are added after the words "teletext services".
Art. 15. In section 31 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1° to § 1^er(a), the words "of the European Union" are deleted;
2° at the end of § 1^era new paragraph is added, as follows:
"The application of points (b) and (c) is conditional on the fact that works originating from member states are not discriminated against in the third countries concerned. »;
3° in § 3, the word "shall" is replaced by the words "successed";
4° a § 3bis is inserted, as follows:
§ 3bis. The works that are not European works within the meaning of paragraph 1^er, but which are produced in the framework of bilateral co-production agreements between Member States and third countries, are deemed to be European works if community co-producers majorityly participate in the total cost of production and that production is not controlled by one or more producers established outside the territory of the Member States. »;
5° in § 4, the words "and 3bis" are inserted between the words "in the sense of § 1^er and the words "but they are done".
Art. 16. Section 32 of the Act is replaced by the following provision:
“Art. 32. No television broadcasting organization may broadcast a cinematographic work outside the agreed deadlines with eligible applicants. »
Art. 17. The title of section 2 of chapter III of the Act is replaced by the following title:
“Section 2. - Television, tele-purchase and sponsorship. »
Art. 18. Section 33 of the Act is replaced by the following provision:
“Art. 33. § 1^er. Television advertising and tele-purchasing must be easily identifiable as such and be clearly distinct from the rest of the program through optical and/or acoustic means.
§ 2. Insulated advertising and tele-purchase spots must be exceptional.
§ 3. Television advertising and tele-purchase should not use subliminal techniques.
§ 4. Smuggling advertising and clandestine tele-purchasing are prohibited. »
Art. 19. In section 35 of the Act, the words "TV advertising must not" are replaced by the words "TV advertising and tele-purchasing must not."
Art. 20. In the same law, an article 35bis is inserted, as follows:
"Art. 35bis. Any form of television advertising, sponsoring and tele-purchasing for cigarettes and other tobacco products is prohibited. »
Art. 21. In the same Act, an article 35ter is inserted as follows:
"Art. 35ter. Television advertising for medicines and medical treatments that are only available on medical prescription in Belgium are prohibited.
The tele-purchase of drugs subject to market authorization within the meaning of the law relating to the registration of drugs, as well as the tele-purchase of medical treatments are prohibited. »
Art. 22. In section 36 of the Act, the words "Televisional advertising for alcoholic beverages must meet the following criteria" are replaced by the words "Advertising and tele-purchasing for alcoholic beverages must meet the following criteria".
Art. 23. Section 37 of the Act is supplemented by the following paragraph:
"The tele-purchase must meet the previous criteria and cannot encourage minors to enter into contracts for the sale or rental of goods and services. »
Art. 24. Section 38 of the Act is supplemented by the following paragraph:
“§4. Programs may be sponsored by companies that have, among other things, the manufacture or sale of drugs, provided that they do not promote specific medicines or medical treatments available only on prescription in Belgium. »
Art. 25. In section 39 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1° to § 1^er, the words "and tele-purchase" are inserted between the words "advertising spots" and the words "do not exceed 15%";
2° to § 2, the words "without prejudice to broadcasting organizations exclusively devoted to tele-purchasing and self-promotion" are added after the words "shall not exceed 20%";
3° § 3 is replaced by the following provision:
Ҥ3. Tele-purchase programming must be clearly announced and identifiable as such by optical and acoustic means. They must be programmed in screens that are reserved for them without interrupting them. The maximum number of tele-purchase screens, whose minimum duration is fifteen minutes, is set to eight per day.
The maximum duration of tele-purchasing programs can in no case exceed three hours a day. »
Art. 26. Section 40 of the Act is supplemented by the following paragraph:
"When such programs are not confused, they are clearly identified either by the presence of a visual symbol throughout their duration or by an acoustic warning prior to their broadcast. The King determines the mode of warning of these programs. »
Art. 27. Section 42 of the Act is replaced by the following provision:
“Art. 42. Articles 1^er2, 3, 4, 10, 12, paragraphs 2 and 3, 14-3, 17, § 1^er18, 20 and 26 of the Act of 6 February 1987 on radio and cable television networks and commercial advertising on radio and television are repealed. »
Art. 28. Article 42 bis, as follows, is inserted in the same law:
"Art. 42bis. The King may, by royal decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, coordinate all provisions relating to broadcasting distribution networks and the exercise of broadcasting activities in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital. »
CHAPTER IV. - Entry into force
Art. 29. This Act comes into force on the day of its publication in the Belgian Monitor.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 8 July 2001.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Scientific Research,
Ch. PICQUE
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Note
Regular session 2000-2001.
House of Representatives
Parliamentary documents:
Bill: No. 774/1.
Amendments: No. 774/2.
Amendments: No. 774/3.
Amendment: No. 774/4.
Report: No. 774/5.
Text adopted by the Commission: No. 774/6.
Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate: No. 774/7.
Erratum: No. 774/8.
Draft amended by the Senate: No. 774/9.
Opinion of the State Council: No. 774/10.
Amendments: No. 774/11.
Report: No. 774/12.
Text adopted by the Commission: No. 774/13.
Text adopted in plenary and referred to the Senate: No. 774/14.
Annales parlementaire : séance du 19 avril 2001.
Senate:
Parliamentary documents:
Project transmitted by the House of Representatives: No. 602/1.
Amendment: No. 602/2.
Report: No. 602/3.
Text adopted by the Commission: No. 602/4.
Amendment filed after approval of the report: No. 602/5.
Amendments filed after approval of the report: No. 602/6.
Amendment resubmitted after approval of the report: No. 602/7.
Supplementary report: No. 602/8.
Text amended by the Commission: No. 602/9.
Amendments to the text amended by the Commission: No. 602/10.
Text amended by the Senate and referred to the House of Representatives: No. 602/11.
Draft revised by the House of Representatives: No. 602/12.
Report: No. 602/13.
Decision to join the draft revised by the House of Representatives: No. 2-602/14.
Annales parlementaire : séance du 3 mai 2001.