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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25743.htm

A Safe Haven For Investigative Journalists Everywhere
WikiLeaks Inspired "New Media Haven" Proposal Passes In Icelandic Parliament

Reykjavik, Iceland; 4:00 UTC, June 16th 2010.

The WikiLeaks advised proposal to build an international "new media haven" in
Iceland, with the world's strongest press and whistleblower protection laws, and a
"Nobel" prize for for Freedom of Expression, has unanimously passed the Icelandic Parliament.

50 votes were cast in favor, zero against, one abstained. Twelve members of
parliament were not present. Vote results are available at
http://www.althingi.is/dba-bin/atkvgr.pl?nnafnak=43014

One of the inspirations for the proposal was the dramatic August 2009 gagging of 
Iceland's national broadcaster, RUV by Iceland's then largest bank, Kaupthing:

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Financial_collapse:_Confidential_exposure_analysis_of_205_c
ompanies_each_owing_above_EUR45M_to_Icelandic_bank_Kaupthing,_26_Sep_2008

Two changes were made to the proposal from its original form as per the opinion of
the parliament's general affairs committee [
http://www.althingi.is/altext/138/s/1329.html ]. The first of these
altered slightly the wording of the first paragraph so as to widen the arena for
research. The second of these added two new items to the list of tasks for the
government:

   - That the government should perform a detailed analysis, especially with respect
to operational security, for the prospect of operating data centers in Iceland.

   - That the government should organize an international conference in Iceland
regarding the changes to the legal environment being caused by expansion of cloud
computing, data havens, and the judicial state of the Internet.

Video footage from the proposal's vote will be available at:
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033127&horfa=1

http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033306&horfa=1

For details of the proposal and press contacts, please see http://www.immi.is