Search results : 145

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...

As a part of the legislation concerning audiovisual services adopted at the end of its 2003 session, the Hungarian Parliament approved Act No. CII on the Amendment of Certain Acts on Intellectual Property. The new act contains a set of rules to implement Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (see IRIS 2001-5: 3). Given this subject, the majority of the new provisions will enter into force at the date of Hungary's accession to the European Union. Among other acts dealing with questions of intellectual property, the...

The Miniszterelnöki Hivatal (Prime Minister's Office ­ PMO) has published a concept paper proposing fundamental principles for a new media act. The planned act is intended to replace Act No I of 1996 on Radio and Television Services (Broadcasting Act), which currently regulates broadcasting activities in Hungary. The concept paper was elaborated by three experts invited by the PMO. The authors of the document stated that they regard the paper, which is approximately 50 pages long, as a basis for future professional discussions. The document consists of six chapters dealing with questions relating...

On 1 September 2003, the Hungarian Communications Authority Hírközlési Felügyelet (CA), the body which has a mandate equivalent to a National Regulatory Authority (NRA) according to European Union terminology, announced that the Hungarian Government approved the CA's annual report on its activities and management applicable to the year 2002 (Report). The Report consists of four main parts: (i) The Activities and Management of the Communications Authority; (ii) The Situation of the Communications Market; (iii) The Experiences related to the Operation of the Communications Market; (iv) The Opinion...