Novel radio receivers
New types of radio receivers is a German legal concept from the 8th State Broadcasting Treaty of 15 October 2004, by which the Rundfunkgebührenstaatsvertrag contract was supplemented (RGebStV) into effect from March 1, 2005 version. According to the will of the legislature, it comprised all devices with which the radio offers distributed via the Internet can be used. As a result, the circle of license fee payers was expanded. Since January 1, 2013, the term is no longer relevant for the collection of taxes, because the license fee has been replaced by a device-independent license fee.
Effects
The following devices were affected:
- Computers - expanded sound cards and non-existent DSL connections do not exempt you from paying charges
- Mobile phone with internet access
After no fees had been levied until the end of 2006 (Section 11, transitional provisions ), a fee was levied from January 2007 to December 2012 for the so-called innovative radio receivers (most recently € 5.76 per month). At the same time, a comprehensive fee exemption for second devices came into force.
"1 For new types of radio receivers (in particular computers that can reproduce radio programs exclusively via offers from the Internet) in the non-exclusively private sector, no radio license fee is payable if
2 If only new types of radio receivers, which can be allocated to the same property or connected properties, are kept ready for reception, a license fee must be paid for all of these units. " |
The aim was to avoid the obligation to pay charges for every device used in a company according to this definition. The fee obligation has thus been reduced to one fee per company site, which is only a minor relief for chain stores .
The State Treaty on Broadcasting Fees (RGebStV) regulated the collection of broadcasting fees. The term Internet PC was not mentioned in this law . In principle, all devices that can not display or record radio programs with a time delay were defined as radio receivers subject to a charge. According to the old version of the RGebStV that was valid until March 31, 2005, “new types of radio receivers”, which the legislature understood computers in particular, “which can only reproduce radio programs via offers from the Internet”, were exempt from radio license fees. In the new version, this exemption was only valid until December 31, 2006.
According to Section 1 of the State Treaty on Broadcasting Fees (RGebStV), simply having a radio receiver ready was sufficient “regardless of the type, scope and number of programs that can be received”. The scope of the obligation to pay fees was defined in the explanatory memorandum to the RGebStV as follows: "Only if no corresponding conventional radio receivers are kept ready for reception there is a basic fee for keeping new devices that enable radio reception and an additional fee for those that allow television reception Pay TV license fee ”.
The additional income from the fees for new types of radio receivers was estimated in the 15th report of the commission on the determination of the financial needs of the broadcasters at around EUR 30 million annually. Some social groups may have been more severely affected than others, such as the small self-employed with a professional Internet PC.
Media policy background
Internet and radio
The television directive, which was amended in 2007 to the directive on audiovisual media services, includes media transmitted over the Internet at European level in the regulatory framework previously reserved for television, but only if they achieve the character of mass media. Studies in recent years have shown that content transmitted over the Internet or as IPTV can have a mass media character, but is not covered by the previous regulatory framework, since it is aimed solely at technical transmission (broadcasting).
In Germany, the Bavarian State Center for New Media (BLM) saw an Internet television service that required approval as early as July 2008, with an audience of 500 or more. As a result, these considerations were also adopted in the 12th State Treaty Amending Broadcasting.
Any reception path
The use of radio is generally defined in Section 1 (1) of the RGebStV: "Radio receivers within the meaning of this State Treaty are technical devices that are suitable for wireless or wired, non-time-delayed audio, visualization or recording of radio performances (radio and television)". This includes conceptual ( "or wireline") via the Internet streamed broadcasting services ( Internet radio , Internet TV / Internet Protocol Television , Mobile TV ), although the term "broadcast radio " this once not included.
Such a definition can also be found in the 5th broadcasting judgment of 1987 and in the amendment of the television directive to the directive on audiovisual media services of 2007.
Jurisprudence
After different views and judgments were made by the highest regional courts on the obligation to pay fees for the new types of receiving devices , the Federal Administrative Court on October 27, 2010 and the Federal Constitutional Court on August 22, 2012 confirmed the basic obligation to pay fees, even for devices used exclusively for professional purposes.
criticism
In Germany, the public Internet could only be declared a chargeable so-called “new type of broadcasting” because the broadcasters voluntarily offered their content over the Internet. If the content had not been offered, there would be no legal basis for the extension. In this way, households that had previously no longer had a classic radio receiver and were therefore also no longer interested in the offers of the broadcasters could still claim the license fee. Any abstinence from radio broadcasting that was possible until then was made practically impossible. This criticism becomes particularly evident when one imagines that a private content provider such as Netflix would proceed in this way by providing an unsolicited service .
Criticism of the term "new type of radio device"
The so-called “new type of broadcasting” is not broadcasting in the traditional sense, but telecommunications functionally identical to the transmission of broadcast content via a conventional telephone, in which the selection of the participant / offer is made via an Internet address that is functionally identical to a telephone number. In the case of broadcasting, on the other hand, the program is selected by selecting the transmission frequency.
The broadcasters broadcast their programs without any special requirement. With the Internet, data is only sent on explicit request from a participant. There are therefore no receivable performances on the Internet , only individual offers for download.
In contrast to radio, in which all radio participants can receive all programs at the same time, with the Internet each data packet is sent one after the other to the relevant recipient. In addition, the contents of the packets are kept in a buffer at least until a collection of data can be decoded (for video transmissions: a keyframe, for audio, for example, an MP3 frame). In order to avoid stuttering playback with fluctuating data rates or line utilization, significantly more is still buffered (several seconds). This leads to a time lag in the display.
It was therefore sometimes doubted whether a telecommunications device such as a computer with an Internet connection could even meet the criteria of the State Broadcasting Fee Treaty.
With conventional broadcasting, the costs of broadcasting the broadcasts are independent of the number of broadcast users. Not so with retrieval via the Internet. In particular, the streaming costs that are incurred with intensive use of the broadcasters' websites can lead to additional financial burdens for the broadcasters.
Criticism of the general obligation to pay fees
Occasionally, the critics stated that it was technically generally possible to control access to the content made available on the Internet, or even to make it available exclusively to fee payers (for example through access control via customer number), which is not possible with broadcasting in the classic sense is. The GEZ or the legislature was often accused of technical incomprehension regarding the Internet on the basis of this criticism.
literature
- Johannes Zimmermann: The license fee for Internet PCs after the first administrative court judgments . In: Communication & Law (K&R). Business consultant for media, telecommunications, multimedia . 11th vol., H. 9, 2008, ISSN 1434-6354 , pp. 523-526.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The 8th Broadcasting Fee Amendment Act ( Memento of the original dated August 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (pdf; 215 kB)
- ↑ Free Press of March 6, 2007 on the last page: " GEZ confuses computer users / No way out for companies"
- ^ The State Treaty at the GEZ (pdf) - no longer accessible since 2013.
- ↑ heise.de: New television guidelines adopted after lengthy discussion , May 25, 2007
- ↑ Directive 2007/65 / EC, amendment of the television directive in 2007, contains at the beginning the reasons for expanding the regulatory framework and renaming it to a directive on the coordination of certain legal and administrative provisions of the member states on the provision of audiovisual media services (directive on audiovisual media services) .
- ↑ Media Council approves changes to the television statutes. BLM, July 10, 2008
- ↑ heise.de: License requirement for Internet TV continues to cause unrest , August 1, 2008
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↑ Administrative Court Koblenz from July 15, 2008, AZ: 1 K 496 / 08.KO ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Münster from September 26, 2008, 7 K 1473/07 ; VerwG Wiesbaden, Az .: 5 E 243 / 08.WI ; Administrative Court of Braunschweig ; OVG Rhineland-Palatinate, judgment of March 12, 2009, 7 A 10959 / 08.OVG: Lawyer has to pay broadcasting fee for Internet PC ; Bavarian Administrative Court of May 19, 2009, 7 B 08.2922: Internet-enabled PC is subject to license fees
- ↑ BVerwG of October 27, 2010, BVerwG 6 C 12.09, BVerwG 6 C 17.09 and BVerwG 6 C 21.09: Broadcasting fees are required for Internet-enabled PCs ( memento of the original from November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Constitutional Court: Broadcasting fee for Internet PC legal. In: Financial Times Germany . October 2, 2012, archived from the original on December 20, 2012 ; accessed on January 4, 2013 : "A fee has to be paid for internet-enabled PCs - regardless of whether the user watches television or not."
- ^ BVerfG, decision of August 22, 2012 - 1 BvR 199/11. Lexetius.com/2012,4202. Retrieved on January 4, 2013 (explanation in full text).
