Mtnjim
02-17-2006, 12:10 PM
(I don't see
"W" setting up a blog!)
Spanish online petitions one step closer
16 Feb 2006
*****
The Constitutional
Committee of the Spanish Parliament has unanimously
approved a change to the general law on public legislation
initiatives
(referenda) to allow electronic signatures to be taken into account.
This was done after the Spanish
Popular Party unsuccessfully tried to
combine collecting traditional signatures with an online petition
calling
for a referendum on the new Statute for Catalonia.
The agreed proposals provide for electronic signatures to have
the same
status as ordinary signatures. They also allow for these electronic
signatures to be collected via
Internet and other electronic media. In
theory, if the amendments are approved by both chambers of the
Spanish
Parliament, this could lead to petitions being signed by SMS or email in
the very near future.
However,
the proposed changes do require that electronic signatures
comply with the original law on verification. This means
that both
standard and electronic signatures must be backed by the same personal
data and be subject to the same
controls. The changes to the original
law that dates from 1984 will go to the vote in the Spanish Congress
next
week, It then has to be approved by the second chamber - the
Senate. The only drawback to these proposals is that
it looks as though
Spanish politicians are putting the legislative cart in front of the
Internet horse.
Legislative proposals are one thing and online data
security is quite another.
The Spanish political elite does
seem to be warming to the Internet in
its quest to engage with the younger voters. For instance, in the
last
couple of days the President of the Catalan government (the Generalitat)
has launched his own blog on the
presidential site. He promises to
update it weekly to keep the public in touch with his activities. If the
trend
continues, Spanish politics could turn into e-politics very soon.
"W" setting up a blog!)
Spanish online petitions one step closer
16 Feb 2006
*****
The Constitutional
Committee of the Spanish Parliament has unanimously
approved a change to the general law on public legislation
initiatives
(referenda) to allow electronic signatures to be taken into account.
This was done after the Spanish
Popular Party unsuccessfully tried to
combine collecting traditional signatures with an online petition
calling
for a referendum on the new Statute for Catalonia.
The agreed proposals provide for electronic signatures to have
the same
status as ordinary signatures. They also allow for these electronic
signatures to be collected via
Internet and other electronic media. In
theory, if the amendments are approved by both chambers of the
Spanish
Parliament, this could lead to petitions being signed by SMS or email in
the very near future.
However,
the proposed changes do require that electronic signatures
comply with the original law on verification. This means
that both
standard and electronic signatures must be backed by the same personal
data and be subject to the same
controls. The changes to the original
law that dates from 1984 will go to the vote in the Spanish Congress
next
week, It then has to be approved by the second chamber - the
Senate. The only drawback to these proposals is that
it looks as though
Spanish politicians are putting the legislative cart in front of the
Internet horse.
Legislative proposals are one thing and online data
security is quite another.
The Spanish political elite does
seem to be warming to the Internet in
its quest to engage with the younger voters. For instance, in the
last
couple of days the President of the Catalan government (the Generalitat)
has launched his own blog on the
presidential site. He promises to
update it weekly to keep the public in touch with his activities. If the
trend
continues, Spanish politics could turn into e-politics very soon.