29. 11. 2012

REPORT on ANEM ROUND TABLE ON ILLEGAL BROADCASTING OF RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAM

As a continuation of its long efforts to contribute to resolving of the problems that hindered the survival of broadcasters, ANEM organized, on November 29, 2012 in Belgrade, a roundtable entitled "Measures for effective prevention of illegal broadcasting of radio and TV programs". The round table was an opportunity for broadcasters to obtain, from competent participants, the latest information on the activities and current status in this field and to reach, through an open discussion with various stakeholders, concrete conclusions about what should be changed in practice or legislation so that the fight against illegal broadcasting could be more efficient. The event gathered over 40 participants - representatives of the competent authorities and regulatory bodies, national, regional and local broadcaster, public service broadcaster RTS, media associations, experts and other interested parties.

In the first part of the round table, the representatives of the competent authorities provided general information about their competence in this area, their experience in practice, current situation, identified problems that had a negative impact on the effective resolution of the issue, while ANEM representatives presented the situation on the field, problems that legal broadcasters had because of the operations of illegal broadcasters, existing regulation that created problems in practice, as well as possible measures to fight illegal broadcasting.

Milan Jankovic, Ratel Director presented the results achieved so far: in late 2011, there were 55 stations without broadcasting license, while in late October 2012, 48 illegal broadcasters were registered; Ratel proposed filing of misdemeanor and criminal charges - 10 misdemeanor and 42 criminal charges in 2011 and 2 misdemeanor and 6 criminal charges in 2012; during the course of 2011, Ratel filed 47 complaints to the competent Ministry and the RBA, while in 2012, the regulator filed 32 applications; limited powers of the regulatory bodies are identified as the main problem; Jankovic warned of the bad practice of the courts in these cases, and emphasized this as yet another problem; he pointed out the necessity of coordinated cooperation with other authorities having the jurisdiction in this area, but also readiness of Ratel to assume greater responsibility and authority (such as inspection control), as this regulator had all the necessary facilities.

Goran Karadzic, Deputy Chairman of the RBA Council - the "piracy" is a problem of authority, which is why the state needs to find a legal solution that will designate a body that would have all the necessary powers in this area; he presented the results of previous work - 289 decisions issued on the prohibition of operation, 125 decisions on execution; 131 requests for criminal proceedings filed, as well as 187 criminal complaints, of which 19 against unidentified persons and 21 requests for assistance.

Branko Stamenkovic, Head of the Special Department of high-tech crime, Serbian Public Prosecutor's Office, said that regulators and relevant authorities should have been provided with greater powers, whereas the prosecutor's office and the police should have been the last resort in solving this problem; the problem Stamenkovic emphasized was that illegal broadcasting of programs was not defined as an offence by the Criminal Code but it rather ought to be classified as the factual description of the criminal offence under Article 353, however, it was not often easy to determine who the actual perpetrator was; in 2010, the Office received criminal complaints against 32 people, in 2011, against 44 persons and in 2012 against 17 persons, which indicates the decreasing trend in illegal broadcasting; for the past three years 47 indictments were raised in the Prosecutor's Office, 16 verdicts were passed and in three cases, the equipment was seized.

Goran Macura, Head of the Department for general oversight, Market Inspection Section, Ministry of Trade and Telecommunications - the powers of the Market Inspection in this area are associated with the oversight of advertisers: based on recorded advertisements broadcast on "pirate stations", about 100 inspections of advertisers were carried out; Macura considered important for advertisers to be informed whether the broadcaster was working without the license, as based on that information, advertisers typically stopped advertising with illegal broadcasters.

Sladjan Mladenovic, Police Directorate, Serbian Ministry of Interior - the role of the police is not to shut down illegal stations, but to protect participants in the execution of the decisions of competent authorities and regulatory bodies; the police have always responded to requests of the competent authorities; the Ministry of Interior has so far assisted 21 times in these cases.

Slobodan Krajnovic, Editor in Chief, Radio 021, Novi Sad, ANEM member presented specific problems in Novi Sad, where the problem of piracy was particularly evident: there are currently 11 illegal and 12 legal broadcasters; three largest problems of legal broadcasters are present due to operations of "pirate" broadcasters: first, they are lowering prices in advertising, due to which advertisers prefer to choose illegal broadcasters to advertise their products; the second problem is the signal jamming and overlapping of frequencies, which directly affects the audience share and therefore advertising revenues; the third problem is the unequal position of licensed broadcasters, who are burdened with high fees and various dues, while "pirate" broadcasters are generating large incomes as they are not required to pay any fees; considering the situation on the field, Krajnovic believes that there is no progress in resolving this problem.

Milos Stojkovic, attorney at law, ANEM Legal Department, emphasized the problem of too many competent institutions with very limited authorities, which was why no effects were being achieved, due to the complexity of coordinating their work; new legal solutions should give regulators more authority; it is necessary to establish criminal liability for illegal broadcasting of program, as well as for advertisers airing their messages on illegal stations; until legal barriers are removed, Stojkovic proposed, on ANEM's behalf, building of cooperation between regulatory bodies and competent authorities, by signing of the Protocol on mutual cooperation in resolving this problem.

During the discussion, the representatives of broadcasters present at the event illustrated with specific examples from their environments the extent to which this not solving of the problem was threatening the survival of local stations. In addition, the authorities were presented with other problems as well, such as the problem of "piracy of legal broadcasters" that were using stronger transmitters than legally prescribed, thus illegally covering bigger territory than the one they were licensed for and obstructing the coverage of broadcasters in those areas in much the same way as illegal broadcasters. It was pointed out that, on one hand, there were too many obligations and fees burdening legal broadcasters, while on the other, there was an evident absence of any obligations and responsibilities of illegal broadcasters and control over their work and content they were broadcasting.

Based on the keynote presentations of panelists and comments heard during the discussion, the two main conclusions of the round table can be defined: firstly, that good cooperation and synchronization of the activities of all competent authorities and regulatory bodies is required in the current situation, given their limited powers. Signing of the Protocol on Cooperation could contribute to current conditions, as proposed by ANEM, which should be one of the Protocol's signatories as well; secondly, that regulatory changes are necessary, in order to broaden the powers of the regulatory bodies by assigning powers to the inspection oversight, as well as the defining of a criminal liability for illegal broadcasting and for advertising on illegal stations. It was concluded that it was just the right time for all these measures, as the process of making a set of media laws was currently underway. After the round table, ANEM will submit to all relevant and competent authorities its recommendations for a more effective fight against illegal broadcasting, taking into account the discussion led at this event.