Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
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Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#2That, and them passing bills allowing same-sex unions makes me want to move there. Nice job Iceland!
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#3Disappointing to see yet another publication not aware that most Icelanders have patronymics, not last names.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#4Disappointing to see yet another publication not aware that most Icelanders have patronymics, not last names.
Ok, so I wiki'd what patronymics are (your "last" name is based on your father's name), but could you elaborate. Did the author use "Jónsdóttir" incorrectly?
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#5Disappointing to see yet another publication not aware that most Icelanders have patronymics, not last names.
Ok, so I wiki'd what patronymics are (your "last" name is based on your father's name), but could you elaborate. Did the author use "Jónsdóttir" incorrectly?
Yes. Birgitta Jónsdóttir is properly referred to as Birgitta Jónsdóttir or just Birgitta, or by her first and middle name if disambiguation is required. Jónsdóttir alone is meaningless as far as name goes. Icelandic phone books are ordered by first name.
edit: although to be fair, in the context of an article written in English aimed at a general audience this is not an easy situation. Properly using just the first name might throw off people who don't know about the Icelandic conventions (that would be most of them) who might then consider this use as strangely personal. On the other hand, repeatedly using the full name might look weird too. Personally I'm not convinced these are worth the trade-off of being culturally incorrect, but I'm not the one making the calls.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#6No law has been passed yet, this is a "proposal for a parliamentary resolution" (þingsályktunartillaga). Which basically means that parliament has expressed formal interest in getting legislation drafted to implement this.
How that legislation will look will depend on a lot of committee work down the road, and what parliament actually ends up passing is another open question.
Still, this proposal has the backing of several ministries, so there's a large change that something good will be passed. But whether it'll fulfill all the promises of the IMMI plan remains to be seen.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#7Disappointing to see yet another publication not aware that most Icelanders have patronymics, not last names.
Ok, so I wiki'd what patronymics are (your "last" name is based on your father's name), but could you elaborate. Did the author use "Jónsdóttir" incorrectly?
The reason you'd call someone Mr. Smith in the English speaking world is because surnames are culturally significant. Because they group entire male lineages together.
That's not the case with patronyms, so this usage has never developed. In Iceland you'd never use just the patronym. It's not a proper name, just an indication of parental lineage.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#8Maybe a bigger issue: What will it mean for file sharers? A private, anonymous server that can't be shut down by foreign powers sounds like a file sharer's dream come true.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#9Maybe a bigger issue: What will it mean for file sharers? A private, anonymous server that can't be shut down by foreign powers sounds like a file sharer's dream come true.
Didn't they try that in Sealand?
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.07/haven.html
Apparently it didn't work all that well.
Re: Iceland passes the "Wikileaks law". What will it mean for journalists?
#10That, and them passing bills allowing same-sex unions makes me want to move there. Nice job Iceland!
Many countries have same-sex unions/partnerships and some even proper marriage but Iceland has the first openly gay head of state.