The act defines the term “public information” as information which is recorded and documented in any manner and on any medium and which is obtained or created upon performance of public duties provided by law or legislation issued on the basis thereof. Access to information must be granted by a holder of information who, generally, is a state and local government agency or legal person in public law and natural person performing public duties.

The enactment of Public Information Act became the basis for several national ICT programs and projects. The most extensive of them is the records management program of government agencies (see below), which was initiated in 2000 and which also brought along the supplementation of several other ICT acts.

Taking into account the rapid development of ICT field, we can, however, claim that the legislation valid at present will stay in the way of real life and needs further improvement. This applies primarily to the “good old” Databases Act that entered into force in 1997 and which includes restrictions to effective introduction of new directions in data processing, which is included in the projects X-tee (X-Road) and e-kodanik (e-citizen) described below.

Year 2000 brought along remarkable changes in the general legal order of Estonia. We may even say that several important events took place - the entry into force of Administrative Procedure Act on 1 January; Law of Obligations Act, new version of General Part of the Civil Code Act, and Private International Law Act on 1 July; Penal Code and Code of Misdemeanour Procedure on 1 September.

These are very important acts that affect also the ICT field. Thus, as of 1 July software procurement must primarily proceed from the regulation of licence agreement included in chapter 18 in the Law of Obligations Act and from the general provisions of the law of obligations. In order to enact the Penal Code and the Code of Misdemeanour Procedure amendments had to be made to the Databases Act, the Personal Data Protection Act as well as to the Public Information Act.

Year 2002 was, however, quite modest as to the development of ICT legislation - it was the year of preparing acts. In parallel with the preparation of amendments to the present Databases Act, which were not yet sent to the Parliament, a workgroup for the elaboration of a new Databases Act was formed at the Praxis Centre for Policy Studies to take into account the needs for the effective elaboration of rapidly developing and integrating ICT environment. The workgroup submitted the first version of the draft act to information technologists for discussion; however, it will not be submitted for legislative proceeding in the Parliament before the parliament elections in March 2003.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications continued also the elaboration of legislation for e-commerce in 2002 to cover almost the last missing part of information society legislation to comply with the information society related package of directives of the acquis communautaire.