Cap. 399 Art. 25Legal protection of services based on or consisting of conditional access.

(1) In this article:

"broadcaster" means the natural or legal person who has editorial responsibility for the composition of television programme services for reception by the general public and transmits them, or has them transmitted, complete and unchanged, by a third party;

"conditional access" means any technical measure or arrangement permitting access in an intelligible form, and subject to prior individual authorisation, to one of the services constituting a protected service;

"conditional access device" means any equipment, software, or arrangement designed or adapted to give access in an intelligible form to one of the services constituting a protected service; "illicit device" means any equipment, software, or arrangement designed or adapted to give access in an intelligible form to one of the services constituting a protected service without the authorisation of the service provider; "programme service" means all the items within a single service provided by a given broadcaster; "protected service" means any of the following services when provided against remuneration and on the basis of conditional access:

(a) television programme services;

(b) radio broadcasting services including radio programmes intended for reception by the public, transmitted by wire or over the air, including by satellite;

(c) information society services offered by electronic means at a distance and at the individual request of the recipient of the services; or

(d) the provision of conditional access to the above services considered as a service in its own right.

(2) Any person who -

(a) manufactures or produces illicit devices for commercial purposes; or

(b) imports illicit devices into Malta for commercial purposes; or

(c) distributes illicit devices in or from Malta for commercial purposes; or

(d) sells or rents out illicit devices for commercial purposes; or

(e) is in possession of illicit devices for commercial purposes; or

(f) installs, maintains or replaces illicit devices for commercial purposes; or

(g) commercially promotes, markets or advertises illicit devices, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine (multa) of twenty-five thousand euro (€25,000) or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) In proceedings taken under sub-article (2) the Court shall order the Commissioner of Police to destroy goods established to be illicit devices without compensation of any sort to any person and, where a person is found guilty of infringing the provisions of sub-article (2) in respect of the said goods, at the cost of that person.

(4) A provider of a protected service whose interests are affected by any act mentioned in sub-article (2)(a) to (g) shall have against the perpetrator of any such act and in respect of such act:

(a) a civil action for damages, and

(b) a right to demand a warrant of prohibitory injunction to obtain provisional protection of his interests, and

(c) a right to demand an order from the competent Court for the destruction or, if appropriate, the disposal outside commercial channels of illicit devices.