The main objective of the conference was to assist the establishment of a platform where professionals, representatives of media and producers of audio-visual content can meet politicians to discuss expected amendments to Czech media law in the context of the Audiovisual Directive and the Communication on videogames.

Subtitled “Regulation and self-regulation on the Internet”, the conference was organised under the auspices of Jan Kasal, vice-chairman of the Czech parliament.

Welcome speech by Mr. Kasal

The conference was opened by Jaromir Talir, vice-minister of culture of the Czech Republic.  The Ministry of Culture is responsible for media regulation in our country and is looking for a comprehensive solution for TV and Internet content rating.

Patrice Chazerand, secretary general of ISFE introduced PEGI and PEGI Online, the history and goals of PEGI as well as the state-of-the-art of games rating in Europe.

PEGI pictograms

The experiences gained by NICAM of the protection of minors in the Netherlands were presented by Wim Bekkers in his introduction to Kijkwijzer (“watch wiser” or “viewing guide”). Conference delegates were interested in knowing more about the organisation of the PPP (public-private-partnership) given the highly efficient case of NICAM’s cooperation with the Dutch government.

Two discussion panels were held in the framework of the conference. The first one – INDUSTRY – gathered stakeholders of business (Vodafone, Microsoft, Telefonica O2, UPC). The main conclusion of this panel was that business must recognise its responsibility and take measures to protect children. Self regulation is the right instrument through which to achieve this. Vodafone for instance started to block the access of mobile phone users to inappropriate content the day of the conference.

 
Representatives from industry

The next panel – MEDIA – was moderated by Václav Žák, chairman of the Czech council for radio and TV broadcasting. Among panellists were representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and content providers:  MAFRA , Nova TV and Prima TV. The main topic was the expected amendment to Czech media law. The most important outcome of the discussion was a call for basic media education, which is missing at present.  All participants expressed their interest in cooperating with the Safer Internet project on the next stage of the work, leading to a higher level of self regulation, awareness and media literacy.