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Law on experimental trials in the information
technology and services domain[definitive version voted after a second reading in Parliament, March 26 1996. The dispensation regime set up by this law is immediately applicable without need for an application decree.]
Article 1 - With a view to rendering conditions favourable for the development of infrastructures and services for telecommunication and audio-visual communication, experimental trials can be authorised, with permission to depart from the legal provisions as cited in Articles 2 to 4 under the conditions provided for by the present law.
The experimental trials must demonstrate appreciable general interest with regard to their level of innovation, their economic and technical feasibility, their impact on the development of French and European production of the services mentioned in the first paragraph, their impact on the organisation of society and way of life, as well as the association of users in their elaboration and implementation.
After consultation with the Ministers responsible for information technology, telecommunications and communication, authorisations shall be granted and the charters recognised, in application of articles 2 to 4, for a period of time suited to the requirements of the trial and which, whatever the case, shall not exceed five years. The authorisations make provision for adaptation in the event of the legal arrangements which apply being modified. The authorisations define the conditions under which the holder presents an assessment of the trial and the evaluation criteria. Authorisations cannot be renewed under the conditions provided for in Articles 2 to 4 of the present law.
Article 2 - In application of Article 1, the Minister responsible for telecommunications may authorise:
1·) the establishment and operation of infrastructures with a view to providing to the public all telecommunication services including a telephone service between fixed points, in limited geographical areas and for a maximum of 20,000 users;
2·) at the request of, or after consultation with communes, or groups of communes, or combined associations, the provision of all telecommunications services including a telephone service between fixed points, over networks set up or operated in accordance with law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 on the freedom of communication;
The provisions of the code of posts and telecommunications remain applicable with the exception of those of the first paragraph of I and II of Article L.33-1, of Articles L.33-2 and L.34-1 and of the first sentence of the first paragraph of Article L.34-4, which may be departed from as much as is deemed necessary.
Authorisation is subject to conformance with the specifications contained in a schedule of conditions and which refer to those points outlined from the fourth to the last paragraph of I of Article L.33-1 which are applicable depending on the characteristics of the trial project. For cases involving the provision to the public of a telephone service between fixed points, the authorisation stipulates that the holder must contribute to the corresponding public service obligations.
Moreover, the holder of the authorisation granted on the basis of 1·) above is required to subject access to the network by service providers declared according to Article 43 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 to the observation by the same suppliers of the regulations which guarantee respect of the human person and the protection of minors and consumers.
Article 3 - 1 - In application of Article 1, the High Council for Broadcast, without being obliged to call for candidates as required by Articles 29 and 30 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986, but in conformance with the criteria outlined from the eighth to the last paragraph of Article 29 of the same law, may authorise the use of frequencies, for a set of sound and television broadcasting services via land Hertzian means, in accordance with digital broadcasting techniques or multiplexed broadcasting on a micro-wave channel.
This authorisation can only be granted for a limited geographical area and, when the services are supplied using a multiplexed broadcasting technique on a micro-wave channel, outside zones covered by a cable distribution network, using frequencies comprised in the wave bands allocated to the broadcast service.
The provisions of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 apply to this authorisation, with the exception of Articles 27, 28, 28-1, 70 and 70-1. With regard to the application of the second paragraph of Article 41 of the same law, the only authorisations taken into account are those granted for television services to geographical areas of which the official population exceeds 500,000 inhabitants. Articles 93-2 and 93-3 of law n· 82-652 of 29 July 1982 on audio-visual communication, do not apply to the holder of this authorisation.
II - The High Council for Broadcast recognises the charter provided for in Article 28 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986, with each audio-visual communication service being part of the set of services benefiting from the authorisation provided for in I.
The services thus recognised are viewed as services authorised in terms of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986. The provisions of this law with the exception of articles 25, 28 (first paragraph), 28-1, 29, 30, 39 and 41 (second and fifth paragraphs) apply to them, as do articles 93-2 and 93-3 of the aforementioned law n· 82-652 of 29 July 1982.
The provisions of this law apply to services recognised accordingly which are viewed as services authorised under this same law, with the exception of Articles 25, 28 (first paragraph), 28-1, 29, 30, 39 and 41 (second and fifth paragraphs). Articles 93-2 and 93-3 of the aforementioned law of 29 July 1982 also apply to these services.
The obligations provided for in 2·) and 3·) of Article 27 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 may be defined globally for all or part of services broadcast on the same channel when they are expressed in terms of percentage broadcast time or annual revenue figures according to the clauses specified in the charters.
Article 3 bis - In application of Article 1, the High Council for Broadcast can recognise charters according to the conditions provided for in article 34-1 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 November 1986, with a view to broadcasts using digital technology over a cable network or via satellite of a set of sound or television broadcasting services, if the said services are made available to the public simultaneously and made up of the repetition of elements from programmes from a public or private audio-visual communication service via land or wire Hertzian means, or from the European cultural channel resulting from the treaty signed on 2 October 1990. In this case, the obligations provided for in 5· of article 33 of the aforementioned law, when they are expressed in terms of percentage of broadcast time, and those provided for in 2· of article 70 of the same law can be defined globally for all or part of the distributed services.
Article 4 - In application of Article 1, the charters provided for in Articles 28 and 34-1 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986, in order to take into account the particular nature of the services, according to the terms and conditions set down by these articles, can make provision for the regulations outlined in 2· and 3· of Article 27, 3· and 5· of Article 33 and Article 70 of the said law to be adapted for audio-visual communication services, other than tele-shopping services, allowing the transmission of programmes upon request with reimbursement where necessary.
For all services which transmit film or audio-visual productions upon request, the charters mentioned in the first paragraph provide for the proportions of European and original French language productions which must figure in the catalogue of programmes made available to the public, as well as the contribution of the service to the development of European and original French language film and audio-visual productions and the minimum expenditure for the acquisition of broadcasting rights for European and original French language film and audio-visual productions.
The time period after which the services designated in the first paragraph may broadcast a full-length film after its initial showing in cinemas is the same as that which applies to video-cassettes.
No advertisements may interrupt programmes broadcast on request.
Article 5 - The authorisations and charters provided for by the present law can only be granted and recognised after a period of three years starting from the date of its publication.
Article 6 - A report on the evolution of the experimental projects carried out in application of the present law is to be submitted, by the Government, to Parliament within three years of the date of publication of the present law.
The High Council for Broadcast is to be consulted on the evaluation of the trials in audio-visual communication.
Article 7 - With the exception , for French Polynesia, of the provisions for telephone and telecommunications communications for which it is competent, the present law applies in the overseas territories of the Republic and in the territory of Mayotte.
A Council of State decree issued after consultation with the territorial assemblies concerned will define the application conditions of the present law.
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