German regulator ZAK to oversee in-car entertainment

Source: Alamy.com

German regulator the Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (ZAK), which is responsible for approving broadcast licences, has moved to regulate in-car entertainment in the country.

At its March meeting, the ZAK classified in-car entertainment systems from Audi, BMW/Mini and Tesla as user interfaces.

The watchdog also classified the Tesla Media Player  as a media platform .

The regulator hailed the moves as marking the first it had exercised its duty to supervise the media offerings of car manufacturers.

The ZAK said that German media law principles were designed to ensure that rules governing the discoverability of media services apply universally.

Dr. Eva Flecken, chairwoman of the ZAK, said: “It sounds strange at first, but it is true: in-car entertainment systems are in the focus of media supervision for good reasons. After all, these interfaces decide which media offers in the car can reach the ears of the listeners. So we are dealing with new gatekeepers, whom the legislature is consistently subjecting to media supervision.”

Dr. Thorsten Schmiege, coordinator of the Infrastructure and innovation technical committee, said: “Radio plays a central role in the car. It’s about access to local news or current alerts, but also about users who expect to be able to easily find radio and content worth listening to in the car. With advertisements, the automobile manufacturers acknowledge their responsibility to practically implement media diversity in the car. We assume and will strongly demand that other automobile manufacturers follow suit shortly.”