Search results : 978

The Finnish legislator intends to make some changes to the protection of the media’s information sources in cases in which the published information has been given in violation of a duty of secrecy, which is subject to punishment under a separate provision. The reason for this is the protection of privacy, as this right is guaranteed as a constitutional and human right. Nowadays it is impossible to breach the confidentiality of information sources during a pre-trial investigation unless the maximum punishment of the suspected crime which is to be investigated is at least six years imprisonment....

According to media reports, the Amtsgericht Zeven (Zeven district court - AG) has issued a penalty order against the user of another person's unencrypted WLAN. In the court's view, the unauthorised use of the WLAN constitutes the offence of unauthorised tapping under Art. 148 in connection with Art. 89 of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG). Furthermore, the woman, by making contact with her former partner and his new girlfriend via the social network "StudiVZ", was found guilty of stalking under Art. 238 of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code - StGB) and of false accusation...

On 23 December 2009, the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Appeal Court - OLG) upheld the company Danone's claim to information about the kick-back payments received by the media agency Aegis Media during the period of a contract between the two companies (case no. 7 U 3044/09). The plaintiff had been using Aegis Media as its media agency for many years. As such, Aegis Media essentially managed the company's TV advertising budget and bought advertising slots from broadcasters. Under the contract between the two parties, all economic benefits that were neither part of the advertising fee nor the...

In December 2009 the Council of Ministers submitted a Draft Law on the Amendment and Supplementation of the Electronic Communications Act (“Draft Law”) to the National Assembly. The Draft Law has been prepared in order to resolve the legal problems that have arisen from the last amendment of Article 251 of the Electronic Communications Act and influenced significantly the day-to-day investigative activities of the judicial system. The other reason for the proposed Draft Law is the requirements for the implementation of Directive 2006/24/EC on the retention of data generated or processed in connection...

In a ruling on 20 November 2009, the Verwaltungsgericht Köln (Cologne Administrative Court - VG) decided that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is not obliged to provide information to citizens under the North Rhine-Westphalia Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (Freedom of Information Act - IFG NRW). The proceedings followed a complaint lodged on the basis of the IFG NRW by a freelance journalist against the broadcaster's refusal to disclose information. The plaintiff had wanted to know which companies WDR cooperated with and how much money was involved. The journalist had requested this information because...