Laptop TV viewers may need licence
People may be forced to pay a TV licence fee for watching RTE on their laptops and computers, it emerged tonight.
A public consultation process began today on the new Broadcasting Bill, which was published by Communications Minister Noel Dempsey.
The draft legislation is to re-examine the definition of a television set in the light of the growth in new technologies.
Every household must have a current licence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1972. An Post collects each 155 euro fee on behalf of the Communications Department.
The new Broadcasting Bill, which aims to update and modernise the legislative framework for broadcasting in Ireland, will also establish a new regulator, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).
Under the legislation, people can also avail of a right of reply mechanism if they feel their good name or reputation was damaged by a television or radio programme.
“This provision is intended to provide a proportionate, low cost and expeditious remedy to persons whose reputations have been damaged by an assertion of incorrect facts in a broadcast,” Mr Dempsey said.
RTE and TG4 will also be established as limited companies under the bill, said Minister Dempsey.
The BAI will encompass the existing regulatory functions of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission and the RTE Authority.
The regulator will be operationally independent and will be funded primarily by a sectoral levy applicable to all broadcasters in the country.
“The draft Bill provides for mechanisms to ensure greater transparency as regards the award of radio licences, and aims to ensure that the new BAI has an adequate range of proportionate enforcement mechanisms available to it,” Mr Dempsey added.
The Bill also proposes to extend the existing public service remit of RTE and TG4 to incorporate the broadcasting of public service programming to Irish communities in the UK.
It will also encompass the use of new web-based technologies in delivering on their mandates.
The Bill also proposes a series of oversight mechanisms to review the level of public funding that is made available to RTE and TG4 to deliver on their public service remits.
The content of the Bill was contributed to by the Forum on Broadcasting, the Radio Licensing Review and dialogue with the European Commission.
