The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2009
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2009/2979 |
| Year | 2009 |
(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2009 and come into force on 19th December 2009.(2) In these Regulations “the 2003 Act” means the Communications Act 2003 .In the 2003 Act, after section 368 insert— its principal purpose is the provision of programmes the form and content of which are comparable to the form and content of programmes normally included in television programme services;access to it is on-demand;there is a person who has editorial responsibility for it;it is made available by that person for use by members of the public; andthat person is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.the service enables the user to view, at a time chosen by the user, programmes selected by the user from among the programmes included in the service; andthe programmes viewed by the user are received by the user by means of an electronic communications network (whether before or after the user has selected which programmes to view) .For the purposes of subsection (2) (a) , the fact that a programme may be viewed only within a period specified by the provider of the service does not prevent the time at which it is viewed being one chosen by the user.over what programmes are included in the range of programmes offered to users; andover the manner in which the programmes are organised in that range;If an on-demand programme service (“the main service”) offers users access to a relevant ancillary service, the relevant ancillary service is to be treated for the purposes of this Part as a part of the main service.In subsection (5) , “relevant ancillary service” means a service or facility that consists of or gives access to assistance for disabled people in relation to some or all of the programmes included in the main service.In this section “assistance for disabled people” has the same meaning as in Part 3.OFCOM may designate any body corporate to be, to the extent provided by the designation, the appropriate regulatory authority for the purposes of any provision of this Part, subject to subsection (9) .To the extent that no body is designated for a purpose, OFCOM is the appropriate regulatory authority for that purpose.Where a body is designated for a purpose, OFCOM may act as the appropriate regulatory authority for that purpose concurrently with or in place of that body.OFCOM may provide a designated body with assistance in connection with any of the functions of the body under this Part.provide for a body to be the appropriate regulatory authority in relation to on-demand programme services of a specified description;to such extent as may be specified;either generally or in such circumstances as may be specified; andeither unconditionally or subject to such conditions as may be specified.The conditions that may be specified pursuant to subsection (5) (b) (iii) include a condition to the effect that a function may, generally or in specified circumstances, be exercised by the body only with the agreement of OFCOM.A designation has effect for such period as may be specified and may be revoked by OFCOM at any time.OFCOM must publish any designation in such manner as they consider appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons who, in their opinion, are likely to be affected by it.is a fit and proper body to be designated;has consented to being designated;has access to financial resources that are adequate to ensure the effective performance of its functions as the appropriate regulatory authority;is sufficiently independent of providers of on-demand programme services; andto the principles under which regulatory activities should be transparent, accountable, proportionate, consistent and targeted only at cases in which action is needed; andto such of the matters mentioned in section 3(4) as appear to the body to be relevant in the circumstances.a designated body may supply information to another designated body for use by that other body in connection with any of its functions as the appropriate regulatory authority;a designated body may supply information to OFCOM for use by OFCOM in connection with any of their functions under this Part;OFCOM may supply information to a designated body for use by that body in connection with any of its functions as the appropriate regulatory authority.In carrying out their functions as the appropriate regulatory authority, a designated body may carry out, commission or support (financially or otherwise) research.In this section—
- “(1) For the purposes of this Act, a service is an “on-demand programme service” if—
- (a) its principal purpose is the provision of programmes the form and content of which are comparable to the form and content of programmes normally included in television programme services;
- (b) access to it is on-demand;
- (c) there is a person who has editorial responsibility for it;
- (d) it is made available by that person for use by members of the public; and
- (e) that person is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
- “designation” means a designation under this section and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly;
- “specified” means specified in a designation.
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