General disclaimer

1. Structure

General

 The Finnish Parliament’s first public Internet services started in 1995. The structure and layout of the Internet services were updated in 1999. There was a comprehensive redesign in 2005 – 2006 and the present Internet service was published on 8.11.2006 at http://www.parliament.fi/.

The Parliament Information Office, part of the Finnish Parliament’s Information and Communication Department is responsible for the website and its maintenance.

Service content

The Finnish Parliament’s Internet Service provides a wide range of up-to-date information on the Finnish Parliament and legislation. The website gives information about the members of parliament, the plenary sessions, legislative matters, committees, parliamentary groups and international activities. The service is provided in two different languages, and both the structure and layout of the Finnish and Swedish language pages correspond with each other. The work of the Finnish Parliament is also presented in English, French and sign language.

The public Internet service is now profiled more clearly as a service aimed at both citizens and professional users. The Index Page, which can be used as an alternative to the home page, has been structured to meet the needs of professional users. Professional users can set the Index page as their own eduskunta.fi homepage, so that they do not need to access this via the home page. The link to the Index page is on the left hand side of the home page

2. Terms and conditions of use

Users of the Finnish Parliament’s Internet services agree to observe the terms and conditions of use in force. The terms and conditions for these Internet services apply to the Internet services produced and maintained by the Finnish Parliament. The Internet services in these terms and conditions refer to all the Internet services produced or maintained on the Internet by the Finnish Parliament, such as eduskunta.fi at http://www.parliament.fi/.

The Finnish Parliament reserves the right to amend, without prior notice, the terms and conditions for use, the layout, the content, and the accessibility of the eduskunta.fi Internet services, and to withdraw a service. The Finnish Parliament also reserves the right to suspend the provision of a service during those times when it is being serviced or updated.

The Finnish Parliament shall not be held liable for any material published by a third party, to which there are links on these Internet pages.

Use of the services

The eduskunta.fi Internet services are freely available to all. Registration or logging on is only required for the service for ordering reports and statements.

The eduskunta.fi Internet service may only be used for personal use and may not be used for commercial purposes. The material can be used without obtaining a separate permit, but the user must mention the copyright holder’s name. The right to make amendments is reserved.

The user undertakes to use the eduskunta.fi services in compliance with the laws, decrees, official regulations, and in accordance with good practice. The user may be held to account for the illegal use of the eduskunta.fi Internet services, or for breaking the terms and conditions of use.

Messages that are racist in nature, libelous, or otherwise illegal in terms of content may not be sent to the Internet service. The Internet services may not be overloaded by sending unsolicited mail, chain letters or spam etc., nor may a user send misleading information regarding their personal identity or e-mail address. Material sent by the user may not contain viruses or other such programs that prevent the use of the Internet service or make it more difficult to use.

Personal information

The eduskunta.fi Internet service complies with the Personal Data Act. The explanation for registration concerning the order service is located on the pages for that service. Other than that, no records are maintained of persons using the Internet service. E-mail addresses or other contact details are only requested if a response to a question or feedback is required. General statistical data about the use of the Internet service is collected in order to improve the Internet service. This includes the user’s IP address, the time the web pages are visited, the pages that are visited, and the browser used.

Copyright

The ownership rights for the eduskunta.fi Internet service, as well as any copyright relating to the Internet service, and other intellectual rights belong to the Finnish Parliament. Copyright laws and other regulations and stipulations concerning copyright apply to the Internet services.
Image copyright

The Finnish Parliament owns the user rights for the photographs on the web pages. If you wish to use the images, please contact the Finnish Parliament Photo Archives, tel. +358 (0)9 432 3484. The photos may not be used for marketing or advertising purposes.

Data security

The Finnish Parliament requires users of the eduskunta.fi Internet service to be aware, at the time they commence using the service, that the Internet environment and Internet services are never fully secure in terms of data security. When using the eduskunta.fi Internet service, the user is responsible for maintaining the data security of their own data systems.

Service availability

The Finnish Parliament aims to provide fault-free Internet services that are continuously available. However, the Finnish Parliament shall not be held liable for any problems connected with data transfer or technical faults, or interruptions caused by maintenance or installation work. The Finnish Parliament shall not be held liable for the change or disappearance of any other data contained in the Internet service or found through the service.

3. Technical data

Accessibility

The eduskunta.fi Internet service provides information to all people regardless of age, level of skill, physical or mental capability, equipment or data connection.

The development of the eduskunta.fi website has taken into account specific user groups and their needs in order to achieve a minimum of “Conformance Level AA” in terms of accessibility. This means that the Internet service satisfies all the accessibility checkpoints for both “A” and “AA” levels of conformance.

Programs and data connections

The eduskunta.fi website has been designed to reach as many user groups as possible in terms of operating system and browser combinations. The table below shows the operating system and browser requirements:

Operating system and browser

Windows:
Internet Explorer 5, Internet Explorer 5,5, Internet Explorer 6
Netscape 7
Opera 7
Mozilla 1
Firefox 1.0

Mac:
Internet Explorer 5,2
Netscape 7
Opera 7
Mozilla 1
Safari 1.0

Linux:
Netscape 7
Mozilla 1

The website includes pdf documents that require Adobe Acrobat Reader to display them (downloadable free of charge from the Adobe website: www.adobe.com.). All the sign language video presentations are in .mvm (Windows Media Video) and .rmvb (Real Media) formats. In order to watch these presentations your computer must have a media player that supports one of these formats.

4. Further information

Please contact the Finnish Parliament Information Office for further information on the Internet service: 
Web producer   Petteri Nyman tel. +358 (0)9 432 2191