An unworthy soap

A few months ago the European Court of Justice criticised the way Italy's broadcasting frequencies are allocated, ruling that it contravened EU law, particularly in the case of television channel Rete 4, which belongs to new Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian government now plans to change Italian law to block the impact of the decision. La Repubblica comments: "The Rete 4 soap has been running for almost a decade now, since 1999 when cartel guidelines dictated that Rete 4 convert to satellite transmission to make way for [broadcaster] Europa 7. Europa 7 never received the frequency, which continues to be used by Rete 4. ... The unworthy proposal to postpone the decision until the begin of the digital era in 2012 is not legitimate for the simple reason that the Court of Justice has already sanctioned the allocation of frequencies and stipulated that broadcasters which have no license for analogue broadcasting - like Rete 4 - were no longer allowed to broadcast on these frequencies."

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