Mass Media Regulation and the Internet
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In many countries, the question is being asked: What is the proper legal framework for the Internet? In particular, it is being asked: Should the Internet be regulated under the laws applicable to the mass media (radio, television or printed periodicals)? If the Internet is not to be treated as a mass medium, does that mean it is unregulated? This 10 page document fom the Global Internet Policy Initative responds to these questions.
http://www.apdip.net/documents/policy/regulations/gipi07052002.pdf
Questions answered by this paper:
Questions answered by this paper:
- What is the legal status of Internet sites in European and North American legislation? (How are they defined in terms of legislation, courts and regulatory bodies?) Do any of the same rules that apply to the press and TV/radio stations also apply to Internet sites? Compare: Article 2 and Article 24 of the Law on Mass Media.
- Is there a distinction made in the legal status of “informational” Internet sites (i.e. sites intended to distribute information) and “commercial” Internet sites (e-shops, on-line brokerages, Internet auction sites and other sites whose main goal is trade, not the dissemination of information)?
- Which government agencies have responsibility for regulating and controlling the lawfulness of the content of “informational” Internet sites?
- Is the distribution of Internet-based advertising regulated (controlled) in the same way as it is in print and television?
- Have there been cases in which a government body (including the courts and executive branch organs) has determined that (1) the content of an Internet site contradicts the law or violates the rights and interests of other individuals or organizations, and (2) that the given content of the given Internet site must be changed?
- Have there been cases in which government bodies or other organizations, on the basis of overtly illegal content (connected with child pornography, the drug trade, and so forth), have tried to stop the distribution of information through an Internet site and have attempted to shut it down completely?
- What government body or other organization handles the execution of such decisions (or oversees their execution)? What is the actual mechanism by which such decisions (including court decisions) are executed?
- Do the creators of any types of informational Internet sites enjoy the rights of journalists? Could they, for example, be accredited at the US Congress or in other government bodies where accreditation has in the past only been provided to journalists and TV or radio correspondents? On the basis of what legal statutes have the creators of Internet site become able to enjoy such rights? Aside from accreditation, what is the full extent of the rights that such people enjoy?
- Is there any difference in the legal status (in terms of rights and responsibilities) between “commercial” and “informational” sites?
- Which country’s law could be applied, for example, to a French-language Web site with a .de domain hosted by an American provider?
- Are there cases in which the creators of an Internet site post a proviso that the site is not intended for use by citizens of a certain country, since its content violates the laws of that state (for example, an American site containing Nazi information which indicates that the site is not intended for German or French citizens)?
- Are there any states that provide “legal asylum” for unlawful sites?
- How is the problem of national jurisdiction resolved in relation to sites that are located abroad? If a site located outside the territory of a North American or European state violates the laws of that state (child pornography, drugs, terrorism, copyright, etc.), how can the authorities of that state proceed: do they try to apply laws to that foreign site which could hold the creators of such sites responsible?
- Please describe the extent to which a unified legal environment exists in relation to Internet regulation (in part, European and international conventions). What international means does the European Community, for example, undertake in order that the Internet sites located in the territory of any EC state are subject to a unified laws?
- Please describe in detail (i.e. methods and procedures) how it is proven in court that a certain piece of information actually appeared on an Internet site, if the creators of the site already managed to delete it? Are creators of Internet sites required to keep an archive on information that appeared on the site and provide it upon the request of government bodies?
- Is there a practice of publishing retractions (according to court decisions) of unreliable information that was hosted on Web sites? Have any court rulings been issued regarding the publication of retractions on Internet sites?
- What industry organizations exist for self-regulating the activities of Internet content providers; what functions do they fulfil? Are they able to discipline the creators of unlawful or unethical sites able in any way?
- Is there any special regulation that applies to erotic or pornographic media?
- Are there any requirements that creators of Internet sites must post their names, address and so forth?
- If some form of unlawful information is disseminated on a Web site, how is it determined which specific individual or corporation bears responsibility for it? (the person who has registered the domain name; the person who owns the IP address where the site is located; the Internet service provider; the person who concluded the contract with the provider; others?)
Last modified 2007-01-15 07:57 PM
