Directive 98/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 1 Scope

The objective of this Directive is to approximate provisions in the Member States concerning measures against illicit devices which give unauthorised access to protected services.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a)

protected service shall mean any of the following services, where provided against remuneration and on the basis of conditional access:

• television broadcasting, as defined in Article l(a) of Directive 89/552/EEC,

• radio broadcasting, meaning any transmission by wire or over the air, including by satellite, of radio programmes intended for reception by the public,

• information society services within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on information society services(1),

or the provision of conditional access to the above services considered as a service in its own right;

(b)

conditional access shall mean any technical measure and/or arrangement whereby access to the protected service in an intelligible form is made conditional upon prior individual authorisation;

(c)

conditional access device shall mean any equipment or software designed or adapted to give access to a protected service in an intelligible form;

(d)

associated service shall mean the installation, maintenance or replacement of conditional access devices, as well as the provision of commercial communication services in relation to them or to protected services;

(e)

illicit device shall mean any equipment or software designed or adapted to give access to a protected service in an intelligible form without the authorisation of the service provider;

(f)

field coordinated by this Directive shall mean any provision relating to the infringing activities specified in Article 4.

Article 3 Internal market principles

1. Each Member State shall take the measures necessary to prohibit on its territory the activities listed in Article 4, and to provide for the sanctions and remedies laid down in Article 5.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, Member States may not:

(a) restrict the provision of protected services, or associated services, which originate in another Member State; or

(b) restrict the free movement of conditional access devices;

for reasons falling within the field coordinated by this Directive.

Article 4 Infringing activities

Member States shall prohibit on their territory all of the following activities:

(a)

the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, rental or possession for commercial purposes of illicit devices;

(b)

the installation, maintenance or replacement for commercial purposes of an illicit device;

(c)

the use of commercial communications to promote illicit devices.

Article 5 Sanctions and remedies

1. The sanctions shall be effective, dissuasive and proportionate to the potential impact of the infringing activity.

2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that providers of protected services whose interests are affected by an infringing activity as specified in Article 4, carried out on their territory, have access to appropriate remedies, including bringing an action for damages and obtaining an injunction or other preventive measure, and where appropriate, applying for disposal outside commercial channels of illicit devices.

Article 6 Implementation

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 28 May 2000. They shall notify them to the Commission forthwith.

When Member States adopt such measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field coordinated by this Directive.

Article 7 Reports

Not later than three years after the entry into force of this Directive, and every two years thereafter, the Commission shall present a report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee concerning the implementation of this Directive accompanied, where appropriate, by proposals, in particular as regards the definitions under Article 2, for adapting it in light of technical and economic developments and of the consultations carried out by the Commission.

Article 8 Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 9 Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 November 1998.

For the European Parliament

The President

J. M. Gil-Robles

For the Council

The President

E. Hostasch