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Publishers Abstract:
In a world of profound changes and dynamism, what has remained surprisingly unaffected is regulation. Particularly in respect of the audiovisual media, there have been literally no changes to the regulatory framework since the onset of convergence. The main purpose of this article is to examine whether and how the changes envisaged to the EC audiovisual media regime might influence cultural diversity in Europe and, subsequently, address the question of whether the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) appropriately safeguards the balance between competition and the public interest in this regard. When examining the provisions of the AVMS, the authors exposed a wide gap between the cultural diversity rhetoric and the real instruments put in place by the Community legislature. In its present form the AVMS, while securing a competitive environment and also providing for legal certainty for new media, does not actively contribute to the diversity of cultural expressions in European audio-visual media.
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