Hooray for Iceland!

[Fredkc]

Iceland aims to become an offshore haven for journalists and leakers

By Jonathan Stray / Feb. 11 / 9 a.m.

On Tuesday, the Icelandic parliament is expected to introduce a measure aimed at making the country an international center for investigative journalism publishing, by passing the strongest combination of source protection, freedom of speech, and libel-tourism prevention laws in the world.

Supporters of the proposal say the move would make Iceland an “offshore publishing center” for free speech, analogous to the offshore financial havens that allow corporations to hide capital from authorities. Could global news organizations with a home office in Reykjavík soon be as common as Delaware corporations or Cayman Islands assets?

“This is a legislative package to create a haven for freedom of expression,” Icelandic member of parliament Birgitta Jónsdóttir confirmed to me, saying that a proposal for comprehensive media law reform will be filed in parliament on Tuesday, and that whistle-blowing specialists Wikileaks has been involved in drafting it.

More at:
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/ice...s-and-leakers/

[Seashore]

The final paragraph: "Jónsdóttir said that the proposal already has the backing of the leaders of the Left-Green Movement, the Social Democratic Alliance, and the Citizen Movement, which she speaks for. This represents a total of 38 of Iceland’s 63 parliamentary seats, with only a simple majority needed to pass. She said she expects a vote within a month, and that if all goes well the final laws could be drafted and passed within six months. But the situation is fluid — she also said 'the government might be on the verge of dissolving,' due to an upcoming referendum on debt restructuring with UK and Dutch banks."

Hopefully, the government won't dissolve...

This video re. WikiLeaks' involvement is inspirational...