The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative’s parliamentary resolution proposal has passed unanimously
The WikiLeaks advised parliamentary resolution proposal to build an international “new media haven” in Iceland, with the world’s strongest press and whistleblower protection laws, and a “Nobel” prize for Freedom of Expression [cf. http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/tag/iceland ] has passed through a vote at Alþingi and was accepted today at 8:54am with a unanimous vote.
50 votes were cast in favor, zero against, one abstained. Twelve members of parliament were not present. Vote results are available at http://www.althingi.is/dba-bin/atkvgr.pl?nnafnak=43014
One of the inspirations for the proposal was the dramatic August 2009 gagging of Iceland’s national broadcaster, RUV by Iceland’s then largest bank, Kaupthing.
Two changes were made to the proposal from its original form as per the opinion of the parliament’s general affairs committee [ http://www.althingi.is/altext/138/s/1329.html ]. The first of these altered slightly the wording of the first paragraph so as to widen the arena for research. The second of these added two new items to the list of tasks for the government:
– That the government should perform a detailed analysis, especially with respect to operational security, for the prospect of operating data centers in Iceland.
– That the government should organize an international conference in Iceland regarding the changes to the legal environment being caused by expansion of cloud computing, data havens, and the judicial state of the Internet.
Video footage from the proposal’s vote will be available at:
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033127&horfa=1
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033306&horfa=1
A more detailed press release will follow.
For details of the proposal and press contacts, please see http://www.immi.is
___
The United Persons: Congratulations!)
mazsa are discussing. 
Iceland Modern Media Initiative « Full Mental Straightjacket 12:23 on June 16, 2010 Permalink |
[...] av qeruiem Kommentera Idag vill jag gratulera Island som definitivt tagit steget in i 2000-talet även på det politiska planet! The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative’s parliamentary resolution [...]
Piratpartiet Nyhetsbrev: 18 Juni 2018 « Full Mental Straightjacket 21:05 on June 18, 2010 Permalink |
[...] mycket länge. Om ens någonsin… Island är hemma nu. Men, so be it, Island har givit oss en fristad och en plattform för att fortsätta kampen mot Storebror. saffe är redan i full färd med att organisera motståndet. När jag ser hans iver och hur den [...]
mazsa 21:03 on June 20, 2010 Permalink |
from Smári McCarthy
to announce@immi.is
date 20 June 2010 21:07
On June 16th the Icelandic Parliament unanimously passed a proposal
tasking the government to intoduce a new legislative regime to protect
and strengthen modern freedom of expression, and the free flow of
information in Iceland and around the world. There is full government
support for the initiative and its objectives.
Birgitta Jonsdottir, the chief sponsor in parliament of the IMMI
proposal said: “Iceland will become the inverse of a tax haven; by
offering journalists and publishers some of the most powerful
protections for free speech and investigative journalism in the world.
Tax havens aim is to make everything opaque. Our aim is to make
everything transparent.” she said.
Highlights from the proposal:
* the Icelandic Prize for Freedom of Expression
* Protection from “libel tourism” and other extrajudicial abuses
* Protection of intermediaries (internet service providers)
* Statute of limitations on publishing liabilities
* Virtual limited liability companies
* Whistle-blower protections
* Source protection
* Source-journalist communications protection
* Limiting prior restraint
* Process protections
* Ultra-modern Freedom of Information Act
Because of the complexity of the legislative changes required, the final
legislation will not pass through Parliament at the same date, at least
13 laws need to be changed and improved in 4 ministries. The Ministry of
Education, Science and Culture that will have an overall responsibility
of implementing the laws.
Estimated time for the entire IMMI package to be completed is about a
year. The creators of the IMMI hope by Iceland’s bold steps in the
direction of creating a haven for freedom of information, speech and
expression, that it will inspire other nations to follow suit by
strengthening their own laws in favor of the fundamental cornerstones
that are the base of democracies and thwart the trending of gagging,
legal harassment and destruction of historical records.
This proposal was created by international collaboration of activists,
lawyers, politicians and organizations, including the Icelandic Digital
Freedoms Society, The Sunshine Press (Wikileaks) and Index on
Censorship. The group of people involved share a comprehensive
understanding about how the current status of affairs are in our world
in regard of serious attacks on freedom of information and expression,
and possess a vast understanding of the legal measures that have been
employed to counteract these attacks and how they can be applied.
The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative is based on turning the tax-haven
concept on its head. Instead of pulling together asset hiding and
secrecy laws from around the world in order to shelter corruption and
financial crime, the IMMI pulls together the best transparency enabling
legislation, to create a stronghold for investigative journalists,
internet publishers, transparency watchdogs and the public.
The global support for the IMMI underlines the need for a robust
environment that supports the world’s best journalism and the activities
of transparency groups. The flow of information has no borders and most
of the media is moving to the Internet. That is why the time has come
for a modern legislative regime that can promote and defend global
freedom of expression, in principle and in practice.
_______________________________________________
Ett stort steg för öppenheten på nätet | f r e n d o . s e 22:15 on June 23, 2010 Permalink |
[...] på Island har enhälligt tagit ett beslut att införa nya långtgående lagar till skydd för informationsfrihet [...]