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Recognizing that the mass media have a particular role in the protection of freedom of expression — to ensure that individual citizens are able to receive and impart information and ideas — and are thus bearers of both constitutional rights and obligations. Differentiating for this reason media defendant from ordinary members of the public, which can rely on the absence of animus injuriandi as a defense, and concluding that liability of media for defamation should not be limited to proven falsehood, but should rather be based on negligence.

Clarifying that whether the publication of a potentially defamatory comment is “fair” or “reasonable” depends on the relevant circumstances, such as the interest of the public in being informed; the manner of publication; the tone of the material published; the extent of public concern in the information; the reliability of the source; the steps taken to verify the truth of the information; and whether the person defamed has been given the opportunity to comment on the statement before publication.

(1) introducing into the notice and takedown procedure identified in section 77 the opportunity for the ISP (and not the alleged infringer) to respond in writing to a first take-down notice within 10 business days (but the period may be reduced in cases of urgency), and the obligation for the complainant to give due consideration to such response; (2) empowering the complainant to issue a so called “final takedown notice”, if the complaint has not been resolved to his satisfaction or if no response is received in the above mentioned time period; (3) establishing potential liability “for a related offence” (sic!) when a service provider does not comply with a final takedown notice within 10 business days.

Establishing wide-ranging obligations in terms of freedom of expression (section A), privacy and confidentiality (section B), consumer protection (section C), standard terms and conditions (section D), spam (section E), cybercrime (section F), protection of minors (section G) and removal of content (section I) In addition, the Code provides that members must “conduct themselves lawfully at all times and …co-operate with law enforcement authorities where there is a legal obligation to do so”, …”respect intellectual property rights and not willingly infringe such rights”…as well as “uphold and abide by this Code of Conduct and adhere to the associated complaints and disciplinary procedures”(section H). In this respect, the Code proscribes that ISPA members must receive and investigate complaints (provided that they are...