COMECON MEDIA

Istanbul, February 16, 2018—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s decision tosentence four journaliststo life in prison without parole, and called on Turkish authorities to release them without delay. 
In a separate case, Turkey must scrap charges against another journalist who was today released from custody but simultaneously indicted for terrorism propaganda, CPJ said. A Turrkish court today handed life sentences toAhmet Altan, an internationally recognized novelist and former chief editor for the shuttered dailyTaraf;Mehmet Altan, an academic, columnist, and TV host, most recently with shuttered outlets Can Erzincan TV and the dailyÖzgür Düşünce;Nazlı Ilıcak, a veteran journalist, columnist, and TV host, most recently with shuttered outlets Can Erzincan TV and the dailyÖzgür Düşünce; andFevzi Yazıcı, former layout editor for the shuttered dailyZaman. The four, who have been jailed since 2016, were found guilty of attempting to topple Turkey’s constitution…

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Source: Cordis

The online advertising explosion is raising serious data privacy and security concerns.The EU-funded TYPES project ‘protects individuals’ privacy while empowering them to control how their data is used by service providers for advertising purposes,’ says Rosa Araujo, project coordinator for the EU-funded initiative. ‘By raising end user trust and advertiser transparency, all stakeholders of the advertising ecosystem stand to benefit.’

Advertisers track users when they’re online by shadowing them as they browse websites, perform web searches or watch movies. Tracking companies build a profile of each user based on such activities.

Collecting and processing personal data and then offering it to interested parties often means maintaining a balance between sustaining the many gains the industry brings and concerns over the privacy of internet users. The TYPES project ‘protects individuals’ privacy while empowering them to control how their data is used by service …

Source: EU Commission

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Other available languages: FR + DE + ES + IT + SV +++ 

Brussels, 6 February 2018 +++ 
The European Commission has accepted a request from Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden to assess under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple. The Commission considers the transaction may threaten to adversely affect competition in the EEA. Apple's proposed acquisition of Shazam does not meet the turnover thresholds set by the EU Merger Regulation for mergers that must be notified to the European Commission because they have an EU dimension. It was notified by Apple for regulatory clearance in Austria, where the transaction meets the national merger notification threshold. Austria submitted a referral request to the Commission pursuant to Article 22(1) of the EU Merger Regulation. This provision allows Member States to request that the Commission examine a merger that does not have an EU dimension but affects trade wit…

Source: EU Commission Link +++ Other available languages: FR  + DE + PL +++ 
Brussels, 6 February 2018 +++ The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Scripps by Discovery, both US based global media companies. The decision is conditional on full compliance with commitments offered by Discovery. Discovery and Scripps are both active as providers of basic pay-TV channels to TV distributors in the European Economic Area (EEA). Scripps is particularly active in the UK, where it operates UKTV jointly with the BBC; and in Poland, via TVN, a Polish media company acquired by Scripps in 2015. The Commission's investigation found that: In the UK, the proposed transaction would raise no competition issues given the limited overlap between the companies' activities.In Poland, the proposed transaction risked increasing Discovery's bargaining power vis-à-vis TV distributors because of the acquisition of certain channels that are particu…

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Bundeskartellamt launches sector inquiry into market conditions in online advertising sector

Date of issue: 01.02.2018

The Bundeskartellamt has published a paper on online advertising in its series of papers on "Competition and Consumer Protection in the Digital Economy". The paper describes the development of online advertising from a simple banner to the diverse advertising products available today, classifies the most common types of online advertising and explains the importance of online advertising as an economic sector. Current issues which are of relevance to this sector and may have an impact on competition processes are also outlined in the paper.

Link to the current publication: "Online advertising" in the series of papers on the digital economy

Source: EU Commission
Related policies Audiovisual & Media Services Supporting media and digital culture The European Commission has decided, on the basis of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), that the Swedish intention to impose their ban on alcohol advertising on two broadcasters based in the UK and broadcasting in Sweden is not compatible with EU law.
The AVMSD is based on the principle of the country of origin, according to which broadcasters are subject solely to the rules of the Member State where they are established, including when they broadcast to other EU countries. The AVMSD does not prohibit alcohol advertising, but allows Member States to apply stricter rules, including a full ban, on broadcasters under their jurisdiction. Such a ban exists in Sweden.

In order to impose such a ban on the UK broadcasters, Sweden should have demonstrated, under the specific procedure contained in Article 4 of the AVMS directive, that the broadcasters in question e…