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On 21 January 2004, the Országos Rádió és Televízió Testület (National Radio and Television Commission of Hungary ­ ORTT) stated that radio "Tilos" ­ a non-profit broadcaster operating in the area of Budapest ­ has violated the provisions of the Broadcasting Act (Act No I of 1996 on Radio and Television Services) protecting groups of individuals against discrimination and insults on religious grounds. In addition to issuing the statement the ORTT also imposed a set of sanctions in the decision, consisting of the suspension of the broadcasts for 30 days, the exclusion of the radio from the financial...

On 22 December 2003 the Hungarian Parliament approved the Act on Motion Pictures. The aim of the Act is to increase the level of Hungarian film production by establishing a coherent national film support system. The nationality of a film is defined in the Act by detailed rules, based on the criteria specified in the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production. The Act lays down provisions concerning the Magyar Mozgókép Közalapítvány (Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary). This institution was established by the government and 27 organisations in the field of cinema in 1998. According...

On 1 of January 2004, the Act No. C of 2003 on Electronic Communications has entered into force. It replaces the Act No. XL of 2001 on Telecommunications (see IRIS 2001-7: 15). The new act provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for the Hungarian telecommunications sector, but - unlike its predecessor - excludes postal services from its scope, leaving this subject to a separate act. The purpose of the new act is to enable effective competition on the telecommunications market by further liberalisation and to implement the set of new directives on electronic communications services of the...

In December 2003, the Hungarian Parliament adopted an amendment of the Penal Code with a narrow majority of votes (184 to 180). The aim of the amending act is to further extend the criminal liability related to incitement to hatred against any group of individuals. The amendment was a source of constitutional debates. According to opponents of the proposal, the new act would disproportionally limit freedom of expression. Given these concerns, the President of the Republic - without signing it - decided to submit the approved act to the Constitutional Court for examination. Now it depends on the...

Act No. XCVII of 2003, the recently adopted amendment of Act No. CVIII of 2001 on Certain Aspects of Electronic Commerce and Information Society Services (Act on E-Commerce), will enter into force on 1 of January 2004. The amendment contains two main provisions of particular importance for the media field. The first of them is related to the scope of the act. The original text of the Act on E-Commerce contained a phrase, which was much debated. It excluded “services (…) which consists of exercising freedom of expression, granted by the Constitution” from its scope. Since this fundamental right...