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In accordance with the Radio and Television Act No. I/1996 (Broadcasting Act), one of the responsibilities of Országos Rádió és Televízió Testület (the national radio and television board - ORTT) is to ensure diversity of opinion in the media. Pursuant to Chapter 8 (§§ 125, 126) of the Media Act No. I/1996, which lays down rules on media ownership, cross-ownership (in the sense of a controlling interest) of a daily with nationwide coverage and broadcasters (concerning the various grades of participation) is prohibited. In late September ORTT announced to press representatives that according to...

According to Article 69 Section 1 of Act C of 2003 on Electronic Communications (EHT), the right to use radio frequencies depends on the decision of the National Communications Authority Nemzeti Hírközlési Hatóság (NHH). As constituted in the EHT, the bidding process for licences concerning the third generation of mobile telecommunications (UMTS) is also one of the competencies of the NHH. UMTS will improve the quality of conventional mobile phone calls. Furthermore it will significantly increase the data transmission rate and thereby make Internet-based multimedia services available with mobile...

Since 1 May 2004 ­ the day of Hungary's admission to the European Union ­ the requirements of The European Convention on Transfrontier Television and the Directive 89/552/EEC (as amended by Directive 97/36/EC) for a minimum quota of European audiovisual works have become effective in Hungary. This implementation has been achieved through the Hungarian Broadcasting Act. Article 7 of the Broadcasting Act obliges broadcasters to reserve more than 50% of their annual transmission time for European works. In addition, 10 % of this time should be kept for European works created by producers independent...

The amendment of the Penal Code concerning hate speech is unconstitutional according to the Alkotmánybíróság (Constitutional Court - AB). The bill, which was adopted by the Parliament in December 2003, stipulated that anyone "who publicly incites hatred toward any nation, or national, ethnic, racial or religious groups or calls for violence against them, shall be liable to imprisonment for up to three years for such a crime". In addition, "anyone who publicly insults the dignity of a person because of his/her national, racial, ethnic or religious affiliation could be found guilty of a misdemeanour...

On 29 March 2004, the Hungarian parliament elected a successor to the President of the Hungarian Országos Rádió és Televízió Testület (Television and Radio Commission ­ ORTT), who had resigned in December 2003, as well as other members. Following the election, the funding due to public service broadcasting can now be released. Since the ORTT's responsibilities had only been assumed on an interim basis, the payments could not be made until the Commission was elected. The outstanding payments due amounted to approx. HUF 1.6 billion (approx. EUR 6.7 million calculated on 20 April 2004).