Finland
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Finland |
 Historical
and juridical viewpoint
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Introduction The Ministry of Transport and Communications is the central policy-making and enforcement body of telecommunications and mass media, concentrating especially issues dealing with infrastructure and technical matters. The main task of the Ministry is less related to enforcement of existing regulations than to charting new policies and regulations at the national level, and presenting Finland in the international bodies in the telecommunications area. Management responsibilities fall under separate Telecommunications Administration Centre, which operates under the Ministry and is responsible for numerous supervisory and regulatory tasks, including type approvals, standardisation, numbering and allocation of radio frequencies. Another relevant ministries are the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, which is concerned of the copyright issues, and the Ministry of Justice under which largely fall the regulations related to content issues (privacy, freedom of speech, etc.). However, as a result of the rapid development of the Information Society related technologies as well as the National Information Society program, all the Ministries are increasingly concerned with, taking part, developing and planning issues, laws and regulations related to IS in their relevant areas. The telecommunications in Finland are regulated through Telecommunications Market Act of 1997 (which replaced the Telecommunications Act of 1987), Radio Act (1988), and degrees related to these two laws. Other main mass media related laws are:
From the beginning of 1999 the new mass media legislation will enter into force. The nature of the laws is rather general, and the laws deal with communications overall. In the areas where operating licenses are required, the rights and responsibilities are defined not only in laws, but also in the conditions attached to licenses. Apart from the laws related to telecommunications and mass media, there are other indirectly related, general purpose legislative acts. These kinds of laws (especially related - or will be related - to Information Society issues) include:
Since their establishment, all the laws have been updated, complemented with decrees and regulations. Many of the main laws have been totally renewed in 1997 and 1998 and many are under major renewals. Through the ratification of several international contracts, in general, the Finnish regulatory framework, especially in the technology area, is much in line with the international practice and with the EU directives. In general the Finnish laws have been made in a way that they provide "wide frames" for interpretation in a sense that the laws have avoided and aimed at minimising "technical-specific" or "format-depending" statues. The need for law-based rules is carefully considered before making ones. When possible, the aim is to rely on "code of contacts", on commonly agreed rules based on mutual understanding of the relevant parties. I - Historical and juridical viewpoint 1. A Viewpoint over regulation developments in 1996 and before Regulatory developments related to Information Society have been largely concerned rules regulating telecommunications field, until very recently as the proliferation of network usage has aroused needs to update and develop also regulations related to content, privacy, copyrights, etc. in networks. Main changes of the laws and regulations dealing with IS during 1996 were the changes into the Telecommunications Act, and regulations related to telecommunications field. Also IS related changes were made to the Criminal Law. 1.1 Telecommunications field The aim of the developments of the telecommunications regulations in Finland has been and continues to be to guide telecommunications towards open business activity, which operates under the laws related to competition and consumer protection. The Regulator considers its role to be keeping the rules of competition fair, and systems uniform and consistent. In Finland, telecommunications operations have been opened up gradually to competition since 1985 in a managed way through licensing. The liberalisation process has not been as difficult in Finland as in many other countries because part of the telecommunications operators has always been privately owned. The Telecommunications Act, which entered into force in 1987, meant a major step in accelerating the liberalisation of the Finnish telecommunications. The law removed exclusive rights and made all telecommunications a licensed activity. Since its launch, the law was changed seven times with the objective to further deregulate and stimulate the competition in all areas of telecommunications:
The last amendment of the Telecommunication Act entered into force at the beginning of August 1996. The changes made were the most profound since the launch of the Act in 1987. Key content of the changes were to make market entry easier, decrease the regulation of telecommunication fees, and decrease the field covered with regulations in general. The key changes included:
To further stimulate the competition, the Ministry of Transport and Communications started in 1996 to prepare a proposal for a new law for telecommunications. The new law - Telecommunications Market Act - entered into force in June 1997. 1.2 Amendments to the Criminal Law Criminal Law has been under a total renewal since 1980. Simultaneously, also the needed amendments from the information society development point of view have been considered. 2. Changes and adjustments from January 1997 until September 1998 2.1 Telecommunications Market Act (June 1997) The new Telecommunications Market Act entered into force in the beginning of June 1997, replacing the Telecommunications Act of 1987.(For an English translation of the Act see www.vn.fi/vn/lm/vho/tu). The major changes include:
2.2 Portable telephone numbers was introduced in Finland The Telecommunications Administration Centre (TAC) started to grant new nationally portable telephone numbers on May 1997. Number portability means that a telephone user can retain his current telephone number when moving inside his present numbering area. A telephone user may also acquire a new 10-digit telephone number beginning with 071 which is portable all over the country. The new 071 number will be granted for any telephone user, including households. First deliveries of new portable numbers started on June 1, 1997. The initial aim was to extend the portability country wide by the end of September 1997. However, this was delayed to end of September 1998. 2.3 Granting of domain names to Telecommunications Administration Centre The granting of Internet domain names under the root ".fi" was transferred from EUnet Finland Oy to the Telecommunications Administration Centre (TAC) from 1st June 1997. The Finnish Criminal Law has lacked regulation on frauds with newer methods of payments. The amendments made in 1997 extend the scope of methods of payment frauds covered in the law, including especially those related to new payment cards and payments in networks.. 2.5 Renewal of Copyright regulations - protection of databases A Working Group of the Ministry of Education was established from November 1995 to work through December 1997, to prepare the changes to the Copyright Law. dealing with the economical, technical and international developments. The proposal includes the changes required by the EU directive. The changes entered into force on 31 December 1997. II - Changes and adjustments over the last three months (October-December 1998) 1. Renewal of laws on mass communication The Ministry of Transport and Communications started preparing new legislation on electronic mass communications in Spring 1997. The Government agreed upon the proposal in mid-April and submitted the Bill to the Parliament. In October 1998, the President ratified the Acts and the new legislation enters into force from the beginning of 1999. The new legislation, which implements the EU directive, covers all electronic mass communications, and take into account the current and future new technologies that are changing the scope of mass media (e.g., Internet, on-demand services, etc.).The partial integration of public broadcast networks and telecommunications networks means that the same legislation and the same terms should, at least partly, apply to both types of networks. It includes two new laws : One concerns radio and television transmissions (Act on Television and Radio Operations) and the other, a television and radio fund (Act on the State Television and Radio Fund). The regulations specify the financial relations between public broadcasting on the one hand and commercial radio and television companies on the other. The main content of the new laws includes:
The new legislation takes effect from the beginning of 1999. For an English summary of the bill on new legislation on television and radio transmissions in Finland please see: http://www.vn.fi/lm/suomi/suomenv/ylelak/index_e.html.html. 2. Consumer protection in so called distance contracts At the beginning of November 1998, the Working Group of the Ministry of Justice finished its proposal for the changes. The legislation concerns contracts agreed on using some communication tools without the parties being physically at the same location. The proposal includes that the consumer would have 14 days to cancel the contract. This differs from the EU directive, where the cancellation time is set to seven days. The new distance contract regulations will amend the Consumer Protection law. The changes are planned to enter into force on June 2000. 3. Consumer protection in distance contracts of financing services EU has prepared a proposal for a new directive dealing with the distance contracts of financing services. This includes for example deposits, credits, investments and insurance. In December 1998 the Council of State gave this proposal to preliminary Parliament handling. The directive would not allow any customisation of regulations in the countries. In the current Finnish legislation, the areas included in the directive proposal are covered in several different laws. The implementation of the directive will require several changes. For example, the Finnish legislation includes considerably wider obligation for giving information and rights to cancel than the directive proposes. 4. Finland announced a national cryptography policy The Finnish Government agreed on the national cryptography policy in October 1998. The principal of the policy includes that any legislative measures are not going to be used for restricting encryption. With regard to exports and export restrictions, the policy includes that Finland observes those arrangements to which it is internationally committed. The policy guidelines and the accompanying memorandum were prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in close consultation with other ministries and law enforcement authorities. The ministry also noted the remarks made by the industry. The complete policy can be found on http://www.vn.fi/lm/telecom.htm. Also, the proposal for the new law on privacy in the telecommunications sector, which is currently studied by the Parliament, would provide everyone for the right to use any technical means available to ensure the confidentiality of his or her telecommunications messages. 5. Legislation for Electronic Citizen Card The working group, set up by the Ministry of Interior, started its work in the end of October 1998. A draft report is due by the mid February 1999. In addition, the Parliament is currently studying the Government’s proposal for the new Personal Data Act. The proposal includes that the handling of personal IDs should be regulated through legislation. 1. New law on freedom of speech The Ministry of Justice has been working with the renewal of the Act on Freedom of the Press since 1995. The proposal includes replacing the old Act on Freedom of the Press (from 1919), Responsibility for Broadcasting Act and the related issues in the law on cable TV operations with the new law on the freedom of speech. Main content of the proposal includes that the freedom of speech is not dependent on the media. The new law would take electronic media more broadly into account than today’s legislation. The new legislation also aims to clarify the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the different parties that use the freedom of speech in the public media. The proposal was circulated for comments which were due on May 15 1997. It aroused lively discussion and criticism. The aim of the Ministry is to give the proposal to the Parliament in Spring 1999. Also a Working Group of the Ministry of Transport and Communications has been working with regulations of content issues in networks, and has published two reports on the issue (Privacy and Freedom of Speech on Information Networks of January 1997 and Public communication on information networks of June 1997). The committee appointed by the Ministry of Justice gave its proposal for the new law on protecting the privacy of personal information handling in May 1997. After considering the comments received in August 1997, the Ministry gave the proposal to the Parliament in July 1998. The new Personal Data Act (Henkilötietolaki) would replace the old Personal Data File Act (Henkilörekisterilaki). The main changes are derived from the needs to make the national legislation consistent with the data security directive of the European Union (95/46/EY), and from the basic rights renewal. In addition there are needs for several changes of detailed and single nature. The proposal includes more rights for citizens to get and check their personal information in different registers. The rules for giving out the personal information would be stated in separate law - law on publicity, which was given to the Parliament handling in April 1998. The initial aim was to get both the law on publicity and Personal Data Act into force by the end of October 1998, but this has been delayed until 1999. 3. New law on publicity of the information of authorities The Ministry of Justice has prepared a new law on publicity and confidentiality regarding handling, using and giving out the information the authorities receive from citizens (e.g. public registers). The law is meant to guarantee the right to privacy and the protection of personal data also in new media. The law aims at improving the protection of the rights of citizens, and simultaneously widening and deepening the principle of publicity of the operations of public authorities. The proposal for the new law was submitted by the Finnish Government to the Parliament in April 1998. The law is expected to enter into force in six months after the law is passed in the Parliament. The proposal includes transitional regulations, which give time to the authorities to prepare for the new obligations. The authorities have five years to do the needed changes to information systems. All the three laws - the Personal Data Act, law on freedom of speech, and law on publicity are derived from the total renewing of the basic rights regulations. 4. Decision making of associations on Internet The Ministry of Justice is preparing changes to the Law of Associations. The Ministry proposes that the new communication technologies (e.g. Internet) could be used in the decision making process of associations. Already now, the law allows the use of networks for several other operations of associations. The account also states that the extensive use of networks in the meetings of the members and council would require expanding this opportunity also to annual meetings of limited companies and co-operative societies. The Ministry of Justice has sent the report for comments in fall 1997, and the proceeding will be decided after the comments have been received. 5. Creation of viruses becomes criminal offence The Ministry of Justice is adding a statement to the Criminal Law, which makes the creation, making available and distribution of computer viruses a criminal offence. The sentence would be from penalties to two years in prison. Currently any harm from viruses is punished only after real harm has happened and is based on other laws. The Ministry has been preparing the amendments in Spring 1997, and the proposal was given to the Parliament in December 1997. The Parliament is expected to comment on the law during 1998 and the law is expected to come into effect in 1999. 6. Electronic identification and Electronic Citizen Card The decision-in-principle on electronic identification and Electronic Citizen Card taken in March 1998 should be followed by concrete implementation measures, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior : the first citizen ID Cards should be issued at the end of 1999 and by the end of 2001 the citizens, companies and organisations should have significant number of Finnish and Swedish language based electronic services available; the legislation required for the electronic transactions with administration, electronic documents and digital signature as well as ID card and the Public Key Infrastructure services will be prepared by 30 June 1999. A Working Group was set up by the Ministry of Justice to work until the end of 1997; its work finished at the end of March 1998 by giving its recommendations to the Ministry of Justice. As a result, the Ministry of Transport and Communications was assigned to prepare the national encryption policy of Finland and a policy was agreed by the Finnish Government on October 1998. Also the Working Group on Electronic Commerce of UNCITRAL deals with the same legislative issues. Several laws related to electronic interaction and electronic commerce are being currently prepared in Finland (e.g. ID card, digital signing). 8. Renewal of Copyright regulations A new Working Group of the Ministry of Education has been established in January 1998 to work till December 1999. It has to work on the Copyright Law, incorporating economical, technical and international developments, and in line with the developments of the EU copyright directives. 9. Proposal for a law on privacy and data security in telecommunications The Ministry of Transport and Communications has prepared a proposal for a law on privacy protection in telecommunications and data security of telecommunications, and for the legislation related to these issues. It was published in February 1998 for comments, which were due by 3.3.1998. The Ministry gave the proposal to the Council of State in March 1998, and the Government’s bill was submitted to the Parliament in June 1998. The new legislation would mean amendments also to the Telecommunications Market Act, to the Criminal Law and to law on telecommunications administration. The new legislation is expected to enter in force in 1999. Other areas under consideration or inspection for changes, plans for, or on-going changes related to information society include:
11. Summary - political viewpoints and on-going debates The sale of the state owned Sonera Group plc shares commenced in October 1998. The state ended up to sell 22.2% of the company. Altogether 55% of the shares were sold to Finland, whereas 5% elsewhere in the Nordic countries and 40% to other international investors. The share issue and especially how it was carried out has aroused lively political debate in Finland. In December 1998, the Ministry of Transport and Communications declared both licenses for third generation mobile networks and for digital television and radio operations open for application:
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