Search results : 98

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently made public six new reports as part of the second cycle of its monitoring process of the laws, policies and practices to combat racism in the Member States of the Council of Europe. Each of the reports (Andorra (CRI (2003) 2), Azerbaijan (CRI (2003) 3), Liechtenstein (CRI (2003) 4), Lithuania (CRI (2003) 5), Moldova (CRI (2003) 6) and Sweden (CRI (2003) 7)) contains provisions on the media. A recurrent theme in the reports is that of self-regulatory codes of conduct for the media profession. In Andorra, Azerbaijan and Moldova,...

On 21 March 2003, an amended Copyright Act entered into force, designed mainly to bring the Act into line with various EU Directives. The Copyright Act has been amended numerous times since 1999, due partly to Lithuania's accession to international organisations such as the WTO and international agreements such as the Bern and Rome Conventions. One of the amendments introduced in 2003 is a new definition of the term "reproduction", which now expressly covers both direct and indirect actions. More precise details are given about temporary acts of reproduction, which are permitted if they are an...

On 4 June 2002, the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) rejected the President's veto on the suggested changes to the Act on Pharmaceutical Activities which were adopted by the Parliament on 9 May 2002. On 29 May 2002 the President announced that the suggested changes on banning advertisements of prescription drugs on radio and television would have banned all information about them on these media. He said that while the changes were aimed at prohibiting advertisements of prescription drugs, they had gone too far as "all information about medicines cannot be identified as being commercials." He also...

The Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (RTCL), which licenses and controls the activities of all private radio and television broadcasters, adopted a decision to prepare and approve the encrypting procedure for Cable TV and multichannel micro-wave distribution systems (MMDS - digital terrestrial broadcasting) after evaluating the economic and legal situation. Due to historical circumstances, in Vilnius and Kaunas - the two biggest towns in Lithuania - a few cable TV operators are acting without competing among themselves, as they cover different geographic territories. MMDS-operators,...

During the last few months, amendments to the Law on Telecommunications are being prepared in Lithuania under the authority of the Ministry of Communications. According to official statements, the changes will liberalise the telecommunications field. The Draft Law would, however, impose additional licence requirements on broadcasters for their use of telecommunications services. These licences would be issued either by the Government itself, or by a state-authorised institution. Up to now the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, adopted in 1996 (hereinafter "the 1996 Law", sets out...