Dutch royals win privacy case against AP

28 August 2009 From the Associated Press:

A court ruled in favor of the Dutch royal family Friday in a privacy lawsuit against The Associated Press, saying photographs of the crown prince and his family on vacation in Argentina lacked news value. The judge handed down an injunction against further distribution or sale of four images of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's family that were made available worldwide last month and were widely used by the Dutch media. The case has been closely watched by the Dutch media, which is bound by a 2005 "media code" enforced by the government to leave the royals alone except during organized "media moments" or on official functions. The court ruled that the code had no legal standing, but that the royal family nonetheless had a right to privacy.

She rejected the AP's arguments that the photos were "neutral in nature, from which can be deduced that they have news value." She said it was legitimate to report that the royal family was on a ski holiday, but "photos have a much more intrusive nature than written text." Although the AP had argued that the photographs did not violate the law in Argentina where they were taken, Rullmann said Dutch law applied in this case because the damage was incurred in the Netherlands. The judge awarded court costs to the plaintiffs and ordered the AP to pay euro1,000 ($1,435) for each further publication of the images, up to a maximum of euro50,000 ($71,800).

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Dutch court blocks girl's solo global sailing bid

28 August 2009 From AFP:

A Dutch court ruled Friday that a 13-year-old girl cannot set sail on a solo round-the-world voyage next month and ordered her to be placed in the temporary care of social services. In a judgement that was welcomed by young Laura Dekker's lawyer, the court judges did not rule out the possibility of her eventually embarking on the record-breaking quest but said a full study was needed to assess the dangers. "The parents are going to have to negotiate all important decisions regarding Laura with the child protection services," said a statement from the court in the central city of Utrecht.

The children's court also ordered an inquiry into the psychological and physical impact that such a voyage -- expected to last two years -- was likely to have on the teenager. A report has to be delivered by October 16. Dutch child protection agents had referred the case to the children's court asking it to suspend the parental authority of Laura's mother and father, who were backing her bid to become the youngest ever person to sail around the world solo."This means that Laura cannot start her round-the-world trip without their (child protection services') agreement," the statement added.

Laura was born on a yacht off the New Zealand coast during a seven-year world trip by her parents and lives with her father on a yacht in central Netherlands, according to Dutch press. She was not present for Friday's judgment. "Laura is on her yacht at sea to escape the media," her lawyer explained. Newspapers report that Laura got her first yacht at the age of six and spent the summer of her eleventh year sailing for seven weeks on her own.

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It is all paws on deck at the Amsterdam Cat Boat sanctuary

26 August 2009 From The Examiner:

If cats don’t like water, you wouldn’t know it from a group of felines who make their home living on it. Meet the Dutch cats who live on a barge – more officially know as De Poezenboot or The Cat Boat – a sanctuary for cats right on Amsterdam’s Singel Canals, one of inner-most canals in the city’s semicircular ring of canals. Among animal lovers, De Poezenboot may be as popular, if not more, than Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House, the National Rijksmuseum or even the city’s famous red light district.

According to the organization’s Website, De Poezenboot got its start back in 1966 when Henriette van Weelde, an Amsterdam resident, found a family of stray cats. She took them in and soon she was caring for other stray cats. When her own house became too small for all the cats in her care, she got the idea that a sailing barge could do equally well to accommodate the cats and in 1968 acquired one.

At De Poezenboot, the cats are not confined to cages but move about freely. During the day, shelter workers are on hand to care for the cats and attend to the many visitors. If you have the good fortune to visit Amsterdam, do take time to visit De Poezenboot at Singel 38 G, Amsterdam 1015 AB. Visiting hours are daily between 1 and 3 p.m. except on Wednesday and Sunday.

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Poezenboot

Dutch judge threatens fines for filesharing website

26 August 2009 From AFP:

Filesharing website Mininova must remove its links to copyrighted items within three months or risk a fine of up to five million euros (seven million dollars), a Dutch court ruled on Wednesday. Dutch-based Mininova, which claims to be "the largest torrent search engine and directory on the net", acted unlawfully by allowing users to exchange films, games, music and television series, said the district court in Utrecht in the central Netherlands. "Mininova encourages the users of its service to make copyrighted material available via its platform," read a statement issued by the court.

The court cited research findings that 80 to 90 percent of the files shared on Mininova were copyrighted material. From its inception in January 2005 to June 2007, some two billion downloads were carried out via Mininova. The case had been brought to court by copyright lobby group Stichting Brein, which last month obtained a similar ruling against another filesharing website, The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay, which claims to have some 22 million users worldwide, has applied for a retrial, due to be heard on October 5.

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Dutch teen's sailing dream makes waves

24 August 2009 From NRC International:

Is it okay for a 13-year-old girl to sail around the world on her own? The juvenile court in Utrecht is due to decide. Laura Dekker's parents have given her permission to go, because it's her dream. The Dutch child protection agency says this is irresponsible and has taken them to court. Experts advise against her trip.

Laura Dekker has already done plenty of solo sailing on the open seas. Her parents are fanatical yachts-people and have taught her a great deal, including what it's like to be alone on the ocean. Laura told the children's news show Jeugdjournaal: "My parents always knew it was a dream of mine to do this. And I want to do it while I'm still young, so I can break the record."

The case has attracted a great deal of attention in recent weeks and has provoked discussion among Dutch people. 13-year-old Laura is determined to go on the solo voyage and break the existing world record, which is held by a 17-year-old American. She means to set sail on September 1. She plans to do her schoolwork using internet and email. However, deputy education minister Marja van Bijsterveld has already made it clear that this contravenes the compulsory education act that says everyone under 16 needs to be in school in the Netherlands. The child protection board aims to stop Laura Dekker's solo ocean voyage and is prepared to suspend parental custody to do so.

There are other dangers on the voyage which outweigh missing her schooling, said Bernt Folmer, director of the Enkhuizen School of Seamanship. He believes it's wrong to expose a girl of 13 to the potential dangers and that it's too physically demanding for someone her age.

Laura Dekker rejects these arguments out of hand. Her parents have prepared her well for the voyage, she said, including the fact that she will be spending a long time alone. "Because my parents have sailed round the world themselves, they know perfectly well what can happen and that it's not always fun. But because I really want to do it, they think it's okay and they've helped me. They've looked after me just fine for 13 years, so I don't see why they would suddenly go wrong now."

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Amsterdam's Green party wants ecological marijuana

24 August 2009 From EarthTimes:

Growing cannabis should be legalized, but only if done ecologically, according to a plan published Monday by Amsterdam's Green Party. Presenting its party programme for next year's local elections, the Green Party said that only if the Netherlands fully liberalized its drug policy, could it regulate the industry and reduce drug- related crime.

The sale and consumption of so-called soft drugs such as marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, but the growing of cannabis, from which marijuana is derived, is not. The Green Party says that only cannabis farmers who grow their crop ecologically should be licensed.

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Shootings at Dutch beach party leave 1 dead, 8 Injured

23 August 2009 From Bloomberg:

A teenager was killed and eight other people wounded in shooting incidents at a beach party in a Dutch port town last night, police said. There were multiple brawls during the free party, which started at 6 p.m. in Hoek van Holland near Rotterdam, police said in an e-mailed statement today. From 11:30 p.m. several shootings took place, also involving police officers. A 19-year- old man from Rotterdam died on his way to hospital.

The beach party was visited by 70 to 80 troublemakers, the organizers told news agency ANP. Police deployed their anti- hooligan unit after learning they were planning to attend the event, Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told a press conference today, ANP reported. The party, called Sunset Grooves, had a permit for 15,000 visitors, though attracted far more, police told ANP. Visitors turned against the officers, throwing bottles, fences and bicycles. Police took three people into custody and don’t rule out more arrests.

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Pioneers of change on Governors Island

20 August 2009

From Dexigner.com:

Pioneers of Change highlights a more responsible and sustainable approach to living by celebrating the blurring of low- and high-brow, establishing new collaborations, encouraging involvement, emphasizing sustainability and valuing handcraft and the local context. Over the course of two long weekends from September 11 through September 20, Pioneers of Change will showcase a modern interpretation on Dutch art and design.

The exhibit will utilize several former officers' houses in Nolan Park on Governors Island, where visitors can listen and debate, watch and participate, relax and think, eat and drink, play music, be inspired, connect and, simply, enjoy.

"I am honored to share my vision of what I see as a new movement in design and architecture, a different design based on a more critical attitude toward global mass consumption and with an open eye to participation from the public," says Renny Ramakers, curator of the exhibit and co-founder and director of Droog.

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Icelanders against Icesave compensation

17 August 2009 From BusinessWeek:

The bank-crisis in Iceland land last autumn has cast long shadows. Almost one year after Iceland's banks collapsed, the affair threatens to unseat the government and kick the country's EU bid into the long grass. Over 3,000 Icelanders demonstrated outside parliament, the Althingi, on Thursday (13 August) against a proposal to compensate clients of the online Icesave bank for money lost when it went bust last year.

cesave was Landsbanki's online savings unit in the UK and the Netherlands and attracted over 320,000 British and Dutch savers with high interest rates. When Landsbanki was nationalised in October 2008, the Icesave deposits were lost but only domestic clients' savings were guaranteed, creating anger in the UK and the Netherlands. In June, the Icelandic government agreed with London and The Hague that Iceland would be provided with loans to compensate the foreign Icesave account holders to a certain extent. But there is still one major problem. A large majority of the people of Iceland do not agree to the package for British and Dutch savers, who took advantage of the higher interest rates in Icesave before the bank collapsed. To pay the bill Iceland needs to take a loan of almost €4 billion euro from the British and Dutch governments – close to €13,300 per Icelander.

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Dutch royals tackle AP in court

16 August 2009 From AFP:

The Dutch crown prince and his wife asked an Amsterdam court on Friday to fine The Associated Press up to 250,000 euros if photographs taken on their Argentinian skiing holiday are published again."The royal couple asked the court to remove the photographs from its database," a spokeswoman for the government information service told AFP. "They also sought a fine of 25,000 euros for every photo published henceforth, up to a maximum of 250,000 euros (355,000 dollars)."

Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima claim four photographs of them and five-year-old daughter Catharina-Amalia taken by AP violate a media code under which they pose for the press regularly in return for respect for their privacy. Several Dutch news media have pledged not to distribute images of the royal family in private moments, bowing to a palace request.

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Vermeer's 'Milkmaid' coming to NYC museum

12 August 2009

From the Associated Press:

Johannes Vermeer's masterpiece "The Milkmaid" is coming to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art for a special exhibition on the 17th-century Dutch artist. The exhibition opens Sept. 10 and runs until Nov. 29. It will be the first time in 70 years that the painting will be seen in the United States. It was last exhibited at the 1939 World's Fair.

The exhibition will also feature all five paintings by Vermeer in the Met's collection and works by other Dutch painters. "The Milkmaid" is being loaned by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Only 36 of Vermeer's works survive today.
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For more information see the Metropolitan Museum of Art

England rallies for 2-2 draw with Netherlands

12 August 2009 From USA Today:

Substitute Jermain Defoe scored two second-half goals Wednesday to help England rally for a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in a friendly. The hosts had taken the lead in the 10th minute when Dirk Kuyt intercepted Rio Ferdinand's weak pass, rounded goalkeeper Robert Green and sent a right-footed shot past John Terry on the line. Another defensive error by England allowed stand-in captain Rafael van der Vaart to double the lead in the 36th after Gareth Barry gave the ball away. But Defoe made it 2-1 just four minutes after coming on in the second half, taking Frank Lampard's long-range pass and outpacing the defense to fire a shot into the lower left corner. Defoe then slid to tap in James Milner's cross in the 76th for the equalizer.

The Netherlands has already clinched a spot at next year's World Cup finals while England is one win away from claiming its berth for the tournament in South Africa. Victory against Croatia at Wembley on Sept. 9 will seal England's spot.

The Netherlands faces Japan in another international friendly Sept. 5 in the eastern town of Enschede before traveling to Scotland four days later for its last Group 9 match. England has a friendly against Slovenia Sept. 5 before taking on Croatia. Earlier Wednesday, police said fifteen people were arrested for fan violence in the center of Amsterdam.

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A festival of classical music and Amsterdam’s canals

11 August 2009 From the New York Times:

The famed waterways of Amsterdam come alive with classical music starting this Saturday, as the weeklong Grachtenfestival kicks off. The festival, literally the “Canal Festival,” serves up a nine-day buffet of events celebrating music and architecture in Amsterdam. This year’s edition will feature 160 different events, including concerts, master classes, walking tours and kid-oriented programming.

If you organize your days right, attending the festival can provide you a great opportunity to take in a good mix of the city’s more venerable venues, as well as newer spaces. Among the latter, Hermitage Amsterdam, the sprawling complex on the banks of the Amstel that opened this June as an independent satellite of the famous St. Petersburg museum, is prominently featured — not surprisingly, with Russian-flavored programming inserted heavily into the mix. (...) As it does each year, the Grachtenfestival quite appropriately ends with a concert on the water. Starting at 4 p.m. on Aug. 23, the finale features the New Amsterdam Children’s Choir, followed by the Amsterdam Wind Orchestra, playing for free on a pontoon in front of the historic Hotel Pulitzer on the Prinsengracht.

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For more information about the festival, visit Grachtenfestival.nl.

Prosecutor considers closure of Holloway case

10 August 2009 From the Sun Journal:

Aruba's chief prosecutor said he will close the case of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway by the end of the month unless his office finds that there is enough evidence to charge someone with a major crime. The prosecutor, Hans Mos, said he would not comment about the kind of evidence his office is reviewing but that he does not anticipate finding Holloway's remains and prosecuting a case without them would be "very hard."
"We promised the suspects that after Dec. 31, we will not pursue the case," Mos told The Associated Press Friday. "This investigation should end at a certain point."

No one has been formally charged in the investigation, which critics have said was botched in its early stages by Aruban authorities. The probe has revolved around three suspects: Joran van der Sloot, a 20-year-old Dutch citizen and brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 24, and Satish Kalpoe, 21, from Surinam. They were the last people known to see Holloway before she vanished on the night of May 30, 2005. All three, who have denied any role in her disappearance, have been arrested several times - the latest arrests coming last month - but released after different judges ruled there was not enough evidence to keep holding them.

Mos told the AP he will drop the case unless prosecutors in his office agree before the New Year that they have strong enough evidence to go to court. He said he imposed the deadline himself earlier this year because he feels two years is a reasonable amount of time for bringing charges against someone. Mos said he and the Holloway family feel pursuing a minor charge "doesn't serve a purpose."

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Princess Irene of The Netherlands reveals she wishes she was a "normal human being" in documentary

04 August 2009 From AHN:

The Netherlands' Princess Irene wishes she was a "normal human being." The 70-year-old younger sister of Queen Beatrix revealed she has struggled to cope with her royal status throughout her life in a documentary which will air on Dutch television Tuesday. In advance excerpts of the program - made to mark the royal's birthday - Irene says she "could not cope with the separation between the people and myself."

She added that she had to "work a lot" to accept her title and always dreamed of being "normal." Irene escaped a life of royal duties by secretly converting to Catholicism and marrying Catholic Carlos Hugo de Bourban-Parma in 1964 without asking the permission of her country's government.

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Amsterdam mayor marries U.S. gay couples on canal

03 August 2009 The mayor of Amsterdam married five American-Dutch gay couples on Saturday in an implicit criticism of the lack of same-sex marriage in many U.S. states. Tens of thousands of spectators cheered as Mayor Job Cohen performed the ceremony on a cruise around the city's canals to celebrate the high point of the city's gay pride festival. Eight years ago Cohen presided over the first legal Dutch gay marriage. All five couples had at least one partner from New York, where a battle over the legalization of gay marriage rages on.
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