"Focusing largely on the period since retired general Thein Sein assumed the presidency in 2011, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Act, the Telecommunications Act, the News Media Law, the Electronic Transactions Act, and various Penal Code pro
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visions, among other laws. It draws from interviews with individuals facing charges, former political prisoners, journalists, students, activists, and members of civil society organizations. The new NLD-led government has taken strong first steps to release political prisoners and repeal abusive laws, but with Burma’s constitution giving the militarycontrol of the police, arrests under these abusive laws continue. Human Rights Watch calls on the government to drop all pending and new charges against peaceful critics and protesters and make it a priorityto dismantle the legal infrastructure of repression in Burma by amending or repealing all laws thatcriminalize peaceful expression and bringing them into line with international human rights standards." (Back cover)
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"The Center for International Media Assistance and Deutsche Welle Akademie have launched a series of regional consultations with media stakeholders–civil society and media watchdog NGOs, broadcast regulators, academics, media industry representatives, government officials, and others in the media
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and development sectors–to diagnose the problems facing independent media in the world today. The first of these conferences took place in Bogota, Colombia, in November 2015. CIMA and DW Akademie are pleased to publish Media in Latin America: A Path Forward, a summary of the discussion and the findings. We hope it will serve to foster more discussion about how independent media around the world can best be supported." (CIMA website)
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"Mit dieser Publikation möchten wir interessierten Personen und Organisationen einen praxisorientierten Leitfaden für die Nutzung und Anwendung von freien Lizenzen an die Hand geben: Wie funktionieren freie Lizenzen? Wie finde ich die geeignete Lizenz für meine individuellen Bedürfnisse? Wo find
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e ich freie Inhalte im Internet? Das sind nur einige der Fragen, die in diesem Leitfaden beantwortet werden sollen. So hoffen wir, zur sachkundigen Nutzung von Open-Content-Lizenzen beizutragen." (Vorwort, Seite 3)
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"Independent media institutions are crucial for genuine democracies. The most important institutions are national and regional public service media and regulatory bodies that are responsible for the allocation of frequencies and licenses to private media, media market regulation, and protection of m
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edia independence. For this reason, it is essential to ensure the political and economic independence of public service media and of new regulatory bodies for the audio-visual sector. A key factor is the composition and function of the governing bodies and the procedures for the selection of chairpersons and general directors. In a worst-case scenario, the government is mandated to appoint members of the boards of regulatory bodies and the public service media. This jeopardises media independence and limits media’s ability to hold the government accountable towards the public. It is slightly better when members of the Parliament choose the members of these ruling bodies, because opposition parties at least will have a minority influence in the decisions. However, this type of procedure makes independent regulatory bodies and public service media accountable to political parties rather than to the public. A third procedure for choosing members to the governing bodies is used in the Western Balkans. As part of their decade-long preparation for membership of the European Union and their compliance with EU standards, the six potential candidates in Western Balkan have implemented improved media legislation and regulatory measures with regards to the ele ction of board members for public service media and regulatory bodies. The measures to protect the political independence of these institutions constitute a promising step forward but do not fully prevent undesirable politicisation. Characteristically, the potential Western Balkan EU-members (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) explicitly define what public or civil society organisations are eligible as nominators of candidates for the governing body. In most cases, a parliamentary committee invites these nominating organisations to nominate candidates. In one country, the nominating organisations may propose four times as many candidates as the number of available seats in the governing body, whereas only the required number of candidates are nominated in other places." (Page 1)
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"Volume 1 of the Media Law Handbook for Eastern Africa is a practical guide for journalists practicing in Burundi, Eritrea and Ethiopia. The handbook not only contains a comprehensive overview of applicable media laws for each country reviewed, it also contains suggestions on possible law reforms to
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improve the protection of media in these countries." (Publisher description)
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"This publication surveys 48 public regulators in 26 countries to try and gauge their level of independence in practice and identify areas where undue influence may hinder performance. It looks at potential entry points for undue influence in financing arrangements, staff behaviour and the political
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cycle. The key findings are: 88% of the regulators surveyed receive annual rather than multi-annual budget allocations, which can increase the risk of undue influence; most of the regulators have their head appointed by the government’s executive branch. In 15% of cases, the appointment is made by parliament. Only eight regulators use a search committee for hiring a new chair; over half the regulators place no restrictions on pre-or post-employment of professional staff, opening the risk of "revolving doors" and conflicts of interest with industry; only a quarter of the regulators are given a government statement of expectations on their conduct. Such formal statements can be useful to clarify roles, goals and activities; regulatory independence is not an end in itself but a means toward ensuring effective and efficient public service delivery by market players; independence is not static, but is an active objective which regulators must be prepared to approach continuously, requiring a mix of formal and informal, de jure and de facto elements; the life of a regulatory agency is fraught with potential entry points for undue influence, from issues linked to finance, leadership, staff behaviour to links to the political cycle. A real culture of independence will help navigate these “pinch points”; independence cannot come at the price of accountability or engagement. Regulators need to be part of a well-functioning and transparent governance-ecosystem. Keeping their fingers on the pulse of the market through interaction with industry and consumers and having effective interactions with government institutions." (Key findings)
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"Based on the analyses of Rwandan and Kenyan cases, hate speech legislation is not an appropriate tool to prevent harm emanating from hate speech. The empirically verifiable costs of the tool by far outweigh its putative benefits. In Rwanda, opposition politicians are convicted for criticising gover
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nment policies, and journalists sentenced to decades of imprisonment for covering sensitive issues, held in pre-trial detention for years to be finally acquitted, driven into exile and forced to practise self-censorship. Whole news media are suspended or completely closed for providing platforms for anti-government stances. The persecution of individual politicians and journalists has a great negative impact on society. Access to unbiased information is impeded and the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ destroyed. Instead of supporting a process of reconciliation, the laws are used to suppress a necessary, healthy and constructive debate on sensitive topics of the past. As a result, citizens strive to switch to other forms of conflict resolution, which ‘ironically’ means that hate speech legislation itself is misused to settle personal disputes. Rwandan hate speech legislation has itself become a tool that fuels further conflict. While the Rwandan government abuses hate speech legislation to silence its critics in order to secure its power position, the Kenyan government employs hate speech provisions to justify its surveillance of Kenyan citizens. At the same time, politicians who publicly call for displacements and violence are allowed to escape punishment in the name of cohesion." (Conclusion, page 96)
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"Conventional wisdom views globalization as a process that heralds the diminishing role or even 'death' of the state and the rise of transnational media and transnational consumption. Global Media and National Policies questions those assumptions and shows not only that the nation-state never left b
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ut that it is still a force to be reckoned with. With contributions that look at global developments and developments in specific parts of the world, it demonstrates how nation-states have adapted to globalization and how they still retain key policy instruments to achieve many of their policy objectives. This book argues that the phenomenon of media globalization has been overstated, and that national governments remain key players in shaping the media environment, with media corporations responding to the legal and policy frameworks they deal with at a national level." (Publisher description)
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"Ky studim shqyrton hollësitë e jurisprudencës së Gjykatës Evropiane të të Drejtave të Njeriut për fyerjen. Ai eksploron një gamë çështjesh materiale dhe procedurore që ka marrë në shqyrtim gjykata dhe sqaron konceptin e fyerjes duke e parë në raport me lirinë e shprehjes dhe deba
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tin publik. Ai shpjegon sesi ligjet për fyerjen që parashikojnë mbrojtje tejet të gjerë kanë efekt frenues mbi lirinë e shprehjes dhe debatin publik dhe diskuton proporcionalitetin e ligjeve mbi fyerjen dhe zbatimin e tyre." (Back cover)
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"O trabalho compila sete teses jurídicas que podem ser usadas para a defesa de rádios comunitárias em processos judiciais, trazendo informações como a argumentação e a legislação que serve de base para a tese, o momento processual que ela deve ser usada e a jurisprudência já existente. O
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objetivo é buscar garantir que princípios constitucionais e penais e os padrões internacionais que dispõem sobre a questão sejam respeitados. Voltado para a comunidade jurídica, o trabalho visa fazer um contraponto ao cenário de hostilidade às rádios comunitárias no Brasil. Segundo levantamento da ARTIGO 19 junto a 657 acórdãos julgados entre 2009 e 2012 pelos Tribunais Regionais Federais das cinco regiões do país, mais da metade (54%) das ações propostas contra rádios comunitárias são de natureza penalPara a ARTIGO 19, o direito administrativo e civil é muito mais adequado para a aplicação de sanções, especialmente ao verificarmos um cenario em que o direito penal vem sendo aplicado de forma desproporcional e desnecessária." (Página web artigo19.org)
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"En este artículo se analiza en qué medida las políticas públicas de comunicación y cultura fueron uno de los factores fundamentales que contribuyeron para construir la posición de profunda desventaja en términos de sostenibilidad económica de los medios comunitarios, populares y alternativo
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s de Argentina con respecto a los medios de propiedad privada con fines de lucro, a los de propiedad estatal y a otras industrias culturales. Se pretende demostrar que estos medios, en comparación con medios privados y estatales y con otras industrias culturales, se han desarrollado en históricas condiciones de desigualdad que perjudicaron sus posibilidades de sostenibilidad económica en el tiempo." (Abstract)
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"[...] la présente brochure analyse le cadre juridique dans lequel s’inscrit la collaboration du pouvoir judiciaire avec les autres structures institutionnelles et non institutionnelles engagées dans le domaine de la liberté de la presse. Elle explique ensuite l’importance de l’information,
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d’une information indépendante et plurale dans le renforcement de la démocratie et dans la construction des Etats de droit. Examinons, dans un premier temps, le cadre juridique qui régit la liberté de la presse en RDC ainsi que la réforme qui est en cours pour réformer et adapter ledit cadre au contexte national." (Introduction, page 12)
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"In diesem Beitrag wird kurz auf die Ursprünge des IFAI (Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos) sowie auf seine Zusammensetzung und Funktionsweise eingegangen. Im Licht aktuell vorgeschlagener Reformdiskussionen werden die Perspektiven der Institution aufgezeigt und i
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hre Rolle als Garant eines Grundrechtes erklärt. Zudem wird erläutert, weshalb das IFAI keine Institution ist, mithilfe derer eine wirksame Rechenschaftsablage (accountabihiy) erreicht werden kann." (Seite 299)
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"This book addresses the persistence of the optical media piracy trade in the Philippines and Vietnam. It goes beyond arguments of defective law enforcement and copyright legal systems by applying sociological perspectives to examine the socio-economic forces behind the advent of piracy in the regio
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n. Using documentary and ethnographic data, in addition to resistance and ecological theories in sociology of law and technology as the overall theoretical framework, the book investigates factors that contribute to this phenomenon and factors that impede the full formalization of the optical media trade in the two countries. These factors include the government's attitude towards the informal sector and strong resistance to tougher IPR protection, unstable and sometimes conflicting policies on technologies, burdensome business registration process and weak enforcement of business regulations, bureaucratic corruption and loopholes in law enforcement system as well as trade ties with China. In addition to that, the book highlights the social background of the actors behind the illegal business of counterfeit CDs and DVDs, thereby explaining the reasons they continue to persist in this type of trade. It invites policymakers, law enforcers, advocates of anti-piracy groups, and the general public to use a more holistic lens in understanding the persistence of copyright piracy in developing countries, shifting the blame from the moral defect of the traders to the current problematic copyright policy and enforcement structure, and the difficulty of crafting effective anti-piracy measures in a constantly evolving and advancing technological environment." (Publisher description)
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