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Deutsch: Island: Erste Schritte zu einem neuen Medienhafen
Iceland's Parliament has recently accepted a proposal by Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) asking the Icelandic Government to find "ways to strengthen freedoms of expression and information freedom in Iceland, (and provide) strong protections for sources and whistleblowers."
The proposal from IMMI came after secret dealings by a few banks in Iceland in 2009 leading to enormous debts and the lack of regulation and control, almost bankrupted the entire country. The initiative comes also in relation to website Wikileaks, who made those Icelandese dealings public and which has a policy to make public secretly-submitted documents and materials.
Its approval by the Parliament may turn Iceland into a haven for media, with one of the strongest freedom of expression and whistleblowing protection laws. "We can create a comprehensive policy and legal framework to protect the free expression needed for investigative journalism and other politically important publishing," says IMMI.
The IMMI has proposed several legal reforms including the limitation of the scope of an exception to existing source protection laws, the increase of protections for whistleblowers employed by the state and the creation of a law similar to the free speech-protecting anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation against Public Participation) law of California.
The plan intends to take advantage of protections in Iceland for material published from web servers based there. "Iceland could become an ideal environment for Internet-based international media and publishers to register their services, start-ups, data centers and human rights organizations. It could be a lever for the economy and create new work employment opportunities," says the initiative.
Speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament on 21 June, MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir said the Icelandic initiative "pulls together the best legislation from around the world to promote transparency" and suggested that such measures for the protection of sources may also be brought in Europe. "The right and ability to communicate knowledge is above most other rights. We must take care when regulating freedom of speech, because that speech is what all other rights are founded upon," said Jónsdóttir.
For those who suffer from breaches of confidence, according to Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons, there will be some safeguards. "If Iceland is granting immunity to websites that host leaked documents, and if it's prepared to reject take-down orders from foreign courts, that gives the overseas content owner a real problem when the threat of domestic sanctions fails to deter a leak. The proposal does not affect copyright law, though. So it may be that take-down demands based on copyright infringement will be more effective than those based on breach of confidence."
Icelandic parliament backs 'free speech haven' plan (21.06.2010)
http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=11158
Videos of proposal's vote (only in Icelandic)
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033127&...
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033306&...
Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI)
http://www.immi.is/?l=en&p=intro
A Vision of Iceland as a Haven for Journalists (21.02.2010)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/business/media/22link.html
EU 'must act as role model' in promoting free speech (23.06.2010)
http://www.euractiv.com/en/pa/eu-must-act-role-model-promoting-free-sp...