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<DIV class=gmail_quote>---------- Forwarded message ----------<BR>From: <B
class=gmail_sendername>stef</B> <SPAN dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:stefan.marsiske@gmail.com">stefan.marsiske@gmail.com</A>></SPAN><BR>Date:
Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 9:11 PM<BR>Subject: [fcf_discussion] Websites Black-out as
Drastic Internet Censorship is Introduced in Hungary<BR>To: face <<A
href="mailto:face@ml.foebud.org">face@ml.foebud.org</A>>, fcforum_discussion
<<A
href="mailto:fcforum_discussion@list.fcforum.net">fcforum_discussion@list.fcforum.net</A>>,
iindep info exchange hub <<A
href="mailto:hub@iindep.org">hub@iindep.org</A>><BR><BR><BR>blackout4hungary
- For immediate release<BR><BR>Permanent Link:<BR><A
href="http://blackout4hungary.net/en/Websites_Black-out_as_Drastic_Internet_Censorship_is_Introduced_in_Hungary.html"
target=_blank>http://blackout4hungary.net/en/Websites_Black-out_as_Drastic_Internet_Censorship_is_Introduced_in_Hungary.html</A><BR><BR><BR>**
Websites Black-out as Drastic Internet Censorship is Introduced in
Hungary<BR>Will the upcoming Hungarian Presidency of the EU attack the
Net?<BR><BR>Budapest, January 2nd 2001 -- A new media law in Hungary creates a
powerful<BR>censorship authority without oversight and excessive powers under
control of<BR>the governing party, which endangers the freedom of speech, the
Internet and<BR>journalism as a whole. Citizens are called to black-out
the Internet from the<BR>5th January - when Hungary is taking over the EU
presidency on the 6th January<BR>2011.<BR><BR>The new Hungarian media law
entered into force on January the 1st 2011. This<BR>law enables the ruling party
to gain control of the Internet through the<BR>creation of a powerful censorship
authority. While destroying journalistic<BR>source protection the text also
fails to distinguish between different types of<BR>media, mixing online
platforms and traditional broadcasters and making them<BR>obey the same
standards. The Hungarian ruling party deliberately avoided
public<BR>consultation on the new media law. It is plain to see their will to
control and<BR>censor the Internet while bypassing democracy and suppressing
dissent,<BR>opposition and transparency.<BR><BR>Concerned citizens' opinion is
confirmed by the joint analysis<BR> <A
href="http://www.ekint.org/ekint/ekint_angol.news.page?nodeid=395"
target=_blank>http://www.ekint.org/ekint/ekint_angol.news.page?nodeid=395</A><BR>of
the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Eötvös Károly Institute and
the<BR>Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who observe that<BR><BR>
"...the Bill will enact a compulsory registration system for all
content<BR>providers. The maximum amount of fines for national television
broadcaster is<BR>set to 200 million HUF, and to 25 million HUF[1] for national
printed and online<BR>newspapers (including blogs with advertisements). The
media authority will have<BR>the power to suspend or even shut down Internet
websites that does not meet the<BR>requirements. The Bill will establish legal
responsibility beyond the press for<BR>intermediary providers. This shift would
be in sharp contrast with EU<BR>regulation. According to the original plans,
decisions of the authority may be<BR>subject to judicial review, but submitting
a motion to the court would not have<BR>any suspending effect as far as the
execution of sentences is concerned."<BR><BR>Hungary will take over the EU
presidency on the 6th of January, while various<BR>Member States are attempting
to impose Internet censorship, amongst widespread<BR>local and international
protest about the new media legislation[2]. As the "Child<BR>Protection" EU
directive will attempt to sneakily impose censorship of the Net,<BR>it is now
very likely that the Hungarian Presidency will participate in the<BR>global EU
effort of censoring the Internet.<BR><BR>"All citizens, in Hungary and beyond,
should react to this blatant attack<BR>against the Internet! When the Hungarian
government opens the box of Net<BR>censorship, after the French and the Italian
ones, it's all of EU should be<BR>afraid. We must warn EU citizens and reject
any scheme of Internet censorship<BR>altogether!" conludes Vince Kovács,
spokesperson of blackout4hungary.<BR><BR>Citizens of Blackout4Hungary call on
everyone on the Hungarian Internet and<BR>beyond, to oppose Internet censorship
by displaying an image, or turning their<BR>whole website black (examples and
images are available on<BR><A href="http://blackout4hungary.net"
target=_blank>http://blackout4hungary.net</A>) from January the 5th.<BR><BR>**
References **<BR>[1] Around 10 000 EUR<BR>[2] EU presses Hungary on media law:
<A
href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6408bc8a-0f65-11e0-b336-00144feabdc0.html#axzz194Bxml94"
target=_blank>http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6408bc8a-0f65-11e0-b336-00144feabdc0.html#axzz194Bxml94</A><BR><BR>**
About blackout4hungary **<BR><BR>blackout4hungary is a group of concerned
internet citizens with strong ties to<BR>Hungary and Freedom.<BR><BR>** Contact,
Press **<BR>@blackout4hu<BR>Vince Kovacs <<A
href="mailto:info@blackout4hungary.net">info@blackout4hungary.net</A>><BR><BR>thanks
for everyones support!<BR>s<BR><BR>ps: for a detailed analysis see a post by Jan
Albrecht:<BR><A
href="http://janalbrecht.eu/2011/01/02/whats-the-problem-with-the-hungarian-media-law/"
target=_blank>http://janalbrecht.eu/2011/01/02/whats-the-problem-with-the-hungarian-media-law/</A><BR><FONT
color=#888888><BR>--<BR>gpg: <A href="https://www.ctrlc.hu/%7Estef/stef.gpg"
target=_blank>https://www.ctrlc.hu/~stef/stef.gpg</A><BR>gpg fp: F617 AC77 6E86
5830 08B8 BB96 E7A4 C6CF A84A 7140<BR></FONT><BR>-----BEGIN PGP
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