Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 26, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
On Thursday evening, the Austrian Big Brother Awards 2007 (BBA) were presented at Vienna’s Rabenhoftheater. This year’s winners of the negative distinction include the Austrian taxi association (Business and Finance category), Peter van Arend of the Dutch Telecom (Authorities and Administration category) and C.S.I. author Anthony E. Zuiker (Communication and Marketing category). The prize in the Politics category for Federal Minister Claudia Schmied is to be kept on record until next year. “At the last Council of Ministers, a slight improvement to the new draft of the Education Documentation Act was apparently achieved, so the award will not be presented to the Minister of Education. That also fits very nicely with the education register itself, as this legislative proposal is called,” Christian Jeitler of the data-protection organization quintessenz, one of the main organizers of the Big Brother Awards, explains to pressetext.
This time, the “Lifelong Nuisance” distinction went to Krone publisher Hans Dichand, who, according to the jury, had repeatedly and decisively manipulated politics and public opinion in the nearly 50 years of his professional work. “What could not be dealt with directly through the editorial office was done by the newspaper’s letter-to-the-editor writers,” was the inglorious summary from the BBA organizers. Taxi-association head Heinrich Frey received the award because of the video surveillance introduced in taxis this year. Surveillance systems such as data radio, GPS and even physical monitoring of the drivers themselves – an infrared seat-contact system indicates whether the driver is sitting at the wheel – had already been prescribed previously. Peter van Arend earned his prize with his commitment to an Europe-wide dragnet investigation in telephone networks. The reason for honoring C.S.I. author Zuiker is the suspension of civil rights, presented uncritically as an entertainment programme in the opinion of the jury.
In addition to the negative prizes, however, a positive distinction was once again presented. In September, Karl Korinek, President of the Constitutional Court, had warned with regard to combating terrorism that the country could slip into a total surveillance state. There was a danger that fundamental-rights boundaries would be crossed in the security debate. “I sometimes have the impression that we are being monitored about as heavily as the GDR citizens once were by the Stasi.” For these clear words, the jury honored the constitutional judge with the positive prize “Defensor Liberatis”. “I am pleased that you are honoring my commitment to protecting fundamental rights, in particular also the protection of the inviolability of privacy and free communication, in this way,” Korinek says in thanks.
Last but not least, as in every year, citizens once again also had a right to have a say this time. In the popular vote, the audience honored Interior Minister Günther Platter with the Big Brother Award 2007. He had most recently earned the prize above all by helping to introduce the federal trojan.
