ing be tween federal and s tate laws and cour ts as they relate to the space s ta t ion; and mon i to r the space s ta t ion agree- men t s to ensure tha t they pro tec t the fundamen ta l r ights and in- terests of US citizens and suppor t

US policies, including those re- la ted to commerc ia l activit ies in space.

Source: Congress of the U n i t e d States, Off ice of Techno logy Assessment , Wash ing ton , D C 20510, USA.

Corporate communications network M a j o r U S corpora t ions such as Ford , IBM, Federa l Express , K mar t , and S o u t h l a n d C o r p o r a t i o n ( 7 - E l e v e n Stores) are a m o n g those p ioneer ing a new kind of sa te l l i te-based corpora te c o m m u n i c a t i o n s ne twork . V S A T s , n a m e d for the very small aper tu re satell i te t e rmina ls used, let compan ies channe l data , text , and video com- munica t ions via satell i te be tween a

cent ra l hub and hund reds - or even thousands - of geographical ly dis- persed offices, plants , stores, and o the r sites using dishes as small as .8 me t res in d iameter .

Satell i te Systems Engineer ing , Inc, a Be thesda , Md, t e l ecommunica t ions consul t ing firm, pro jec ts tha t , by the year 2000, some 500 000 V S A T ter- minals will be in place. SSE has

Monitor~Documentation

focused on this highly advanced busi- ness communica t ions technology in a new comprehens ive repor t ent i t led VSA Ts: Very Small Aperture Termin- als ]or Satellite Communications.

Inc luded in the SSE repor t is an in t roduc t ion to V S A T ne twork tech- nology for technical and nontechnica l audiences; in format ion on applica- t ions, ne twork designs, g o v e r n m e n t r e g u l a t i o n , m a n u f a c t u r e r s , service providers , and costs; and sample pro forma business cases which evalua te V S A T s in the f inancial p lann ing for- mat typically used for corpora te deci- sion making.

Repor t s are avai lable f rom Ruth Pr i tchard , Di rec tor of Publ ica t ions for Satell i te Systems Eng inee r ing on (301) 652-4660.

Source: T e l e W o r d s , 1011 F o u r t h St ree t , San ta Monica , C A 90403, U S A .

Documentation European draft directive on television: community broadcasting

Television, into the 1980s, has been a cosy national affair, usually with a strong local focus and character. Today, with a flood of multinational programmes from satellites, cables, dish aerials and other new systems, the television viewer should have the same right as radio listeners. Press a button, and programmes can be tracked to almost anywhere in the world.

But TV is not so simple as radio. Community countries - like others - may well adopt separate restrictive measures against cross-frontier broadcasts. The European Commission, therefore, is press- ing for a common broadcasting policy ~ in favour of television without frontiers. 2 The draft directive would ensure the free flow of broadcasts, the stimulation of new equipment and sources of TV production, and the maintenance of preferences for the distribution of Community programmes. Major problems, however, arise from copyright and advertising, While there may be common transmission agreements, say on the protection of children and young people against harmful programmes, and all broadcasts must comply with the law of the originating Community country, televi- sion remains a highly political instrument.

The Commission wants the new legisla- tion to be adopted in 1987. EUROPA-TV,

a consortium of five national channels from West Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Ireland and Portugal, already broadcasts daily. It is the only multinational European broad- casting operation. The Commission would like more of these operations dealing with Community news and current affairs.

A European framework The vision of the European Community's unity should encourage a wider view of 'neighbourhood' broadcasting. Once the Commission directive enters into force, any broadcast complying with the law of the member countries in which it originates should then be able - under Article 56(1) of the Rome Treaty - to circulate freely throughout the Community, unrestricted by varying national requirements.

Such distribution, however, would re- quire a framework with a limited number of rules to coordinate different and diver- gent interests. Such rules within the Com- munity's new audio-visual policy, should include certain law and order standards, the encouragement of programmes of cultural quality, and the removal of obsta- cles to the free movement of broadcasts throughout the Community. Community law, however, would not apply to broad-

casts intended exclusively for non-EC countries.

Law and order standards: While the Rome Treaty provides for the principle of free circulation of broadcasts, the Euro- pean Court of Justice has laid down three exceptions: grounds of public policy, public security, or public health. As noted later, standards of youth protection, of advertis- ing and of copyright all fall within the Community broadcasting policy.

Programmes of quality: The directive would require that TV broadcasters would reserve at least 30 per cent (60 per cent after three years) of their programmes, excluding news, sporting events and game shows, advertising or teletext services, for Community transmission. Further, at least 5 per cent of the programming budget would be allocated to independent produc- ers, preferably small companies. Broadcas- ters, however, should normally have the general European right of freedom of expression, which includes freedom to re- ceive and impart information, without in- terference by public authority, under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

There is, however, in Europe a gap between the need of creative programmes and their equipment supply. The Commis- sion points out that Community television is in a state of crisis, especially in non- documentary entertainment: ~

European or nationally produced films account for only 1 per cent of film showing and TV programmes in the United States, compared with similar American and other imports in the Community amounting to 35

SPACE POLICY November 1986 367

Documentation

to 65 per cent of screening, depending on the EC country. In TV, over 30 per cent of production companies in Britain are in the red; in France only four major distribution companies have survived. Apart from soar- ing production costs, the European mar- kets are too small and over-partitioned.

Creative programmes also require mod- ern competitive equipment. The Commun- ity's audio-visual industry lags behind the US and Japan.

Obstacles to free movement of distribu- tion: Removal of obstacles should be seen as part of the Commission's efforts to abolish frontier barriers by 1992, in light of the Commission White Paper on Complet- ing the Internal Market. 4

Technical standards for broadcasting In Europe there is a vast future market in technical communication. Though behind their competitors, West Germany, France and the UK are heavily funding cable development, and direct television and relay satellites. Meanwhile, costs of lasers and ground operating equipment are ex- pected to quadruple. The Commission has already published a directive aimed at uniformity of technical standards, 5 includ- ing a family of 'MAC/packet' transmission systems for direct television broadcasting, ~ meant to complement the present directive on broadcasting policy. The European Parliament has repeatedly urged the par- allel between the technological industry and the programme industry, 7 backed where necessary by RACE (Research and D e v e l o p m e n t i n A d v a n c e d Communications-Technology in Europe) and ESPRIT (European Strategic Re- search Programme in Information Tech- nology), for the development of new ideas.

In practice Japan is already leading the technological race. The Japanese are on the point of flooding the market with high resolution (1125 lines) television equip- ment. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is prepared to back the Japanese standard, and the form of high resolution television (HRTV) is expected to be popu- lar. European industries have barely started on this new technical revolution.

Advertising The draft directive largely follows the broadcasting procedures of advertising found in most of the Community countries. It requires that broadcasting advertising should be clearly recognisable, grouped in blocks, and kept quite separate from other programme material. It has to be inserted in a natural break within the programme.

Advertisements may not offend prevail- ing standards of decency and good tests, contain any racial or sexual discrimination, be offensive to religious or political beliefs, seek to rely on fear without justifiable reason, or encourage anti-health or safety behaviour.

Advertising for cigarettes and other tobacco products should be prohibited, and alcohol restricted. There must be care

about advertisements affecting children and young people, and no advertisement should be allowed to influence broadcast programmes. It would be possible for Community countries to prohibit or restrict broadcasting advertisements on Sundays and public holidays and, if so wished, prohibit all alcohol advertising. While all countries can impose stricter rules than in the directive, no total ban on advertising is allowed.

The broadcasting authorities could also decide whether and which national broad- casts could carry advertising, and the time permitted for cross-border advertising. The directive, however, recommends that such advertising should normally be limited to 15 per cent of broadcast transmissions received each day by the public. Several countries have not yet started to introduce cable broadcasting, and it will be some time before the Community has a common policy.

Copyright The draft directive requires that all cable broadcast re-transmissions must comply with copyr igh t . U n a u t h o r i s e d re- transmissions are subject to appropriate sanctions. In the case of re-transmission problems a temporary statutory licence (of two years) can permit broadcasts, subject to an agreed contract between rights own- ers and one or more cable operators.

European TV-stations The Commission is envisaging a 'large' market to promote both the production and the distribution of broadcasting prog- rammes, partly founded on Europa-TV, a European channel in Hilversum, broad- casting by satellite multi-lingual program- mes produced by the five Community national channels. ~

At present Europa-IV broadcasts in English and Dutch, but is soon to be extended to German, French and Portu- guese. After 1987 it will use the Olympus satellite, the footprint of which should cover the whole of the Community.

The Commission wants to help this venture through developing the difficult technique of multi-lingual broadcasting, where the TV viewer can choose the desired language among several sound channels linked with a unique video chan- nel. The multi-national editorship of a genuine European information centre could broadcast specialised news. The Commission points out that Cable News Network (CNN) operating outside the Community, wants to establish itself in the European market.

The Commission hopes that Europa-TV will be the pioneer of new European TV stations and a new broadcasting network. Dubbing, or even subtitling, especially of films and programmes for countries, whose languages are not widely known, would open up markets which today are largely closed. Danish, Greek and Dutch films, for instance, are seldom shown outside their home countries. Such multi-lingual techni- ques will be an advantage for future direct broadcast satellites, which will carry sever- al sound channels for each television trans- mission.

Notes and references 1COM(86) 146 of 29.4.1986. 2See Green Paper on Television Without Frontiers, COM(84) 300 of 14.6.1984. See also BR ISEC/B7/84. 3COM(86) 255 of 12.5.1986. 4COM(85) 310 of 14.6.1985. SCOM(86) 1 of 22 January 1986. 6MAC (multiplexed analogue components) systems which vary according to the re- spective signal processing for picture and sound/data transmission. 7See COM(86) 255. 8See Information Memo P.26 of March 1986.

Source: Background Report, 14 August 1986, European Communities Commis- sion, 8 Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AT.

COPUOS: Report on the legal implications of remote sensing of the Earth from space, with the aim of finalizing the draft set of principles

1. On 24 March 1986, the Sub-Committee re-established its Working Group on agen- da item 3.

2. The Working Group had before it the report of the Legal Sub-Committee on the work of its twenty-fourth session in 1985 (A/AC.105/352) and the report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on the work of its twenty-eighth session in 1985 (A/40/20 and Corr 1).

3. The Working Group recalled that at the twenty-fourth session of the Legal

Sub-Committee, a number of very con- structive efforts had been made to resolve difficulties and to arrive at a consensus on the text of the draft principles but that consultations had not been finalized. The consultations, however, had led to the submission of a working document by the Chairman of the Working Group (see A/AC. 105/352, annex I, appendix, sect B). It had been felt that the working document could provide a basis for an agreement by consensus. The recommendation had been

368 SPACE POLICY November 1986