Internet portals in the Baltic States: legal issues

www.geocities.com/liutaurasu The article reviews legal regulation scheme covering various issues of the daily routines in the Baltic States internet portals. The most recent and controversial legal cases are discussed, whe-reas later general legal regulation is overviewed. The result of this article is identification of the most important issues for internet portals in the legal arena. At the same time legal analysis compares the outcomes to the general human rights principle of freedom of expression and its application in internet*. According to the latest “Nielsen//NetRatings”, ITU and “C-I-A ” data, internet penetration has reached 48,9 % in the European Union1. At the same time local Lithuanian portion using the internet has reached 28,2%. This * Tyrimo medþiaga buvo pateikta praneðime, skaitytame Vilniaus universiteto Komunikacijos fa-kulteto surengtoje konferencijoje „Komunikacijos ir informacijos mokslai: bûklë ir raidos tendenci