FRANCE: COURT ORDERS U.S. INTERNET GIANT YAHOO TO STOP FRENCH PEOPLE FROM ACCESSING NAZI MEMORABILIA WEBSITES
Record ID:
646550
FRANCE: COURT ORDERS U.S. INTERNET GIANT YAHOO TO STOP FRENCH PEOPLE FROM ACCESSING NAZI MEMORABILIA WEBSITES
- Title: FRANCE: COURT ORDERS U.S. INTERNET GIANT YAHOO TO STOP FRENCH PEOPLE FROM ACCESSING NAZI MEMORABILIA WEBSITES
- Date: 21st November 2000
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 20, 2000)(REUTERS) 1. LAS TILT DOWN EXTERIOR JUSTICE PALACE; SLV INTERIOR (3 SHOTS) 0.14 2. (SOUNDBITE) (French) YIGAL EP HARRAR, PRESIDENT OF UEJF (FRENCH JEWISH STUDENT UNION), SAYING: "This is the end of cybercrime against humanity. Yahoo has been condemned, so from here onwards the banalization of the memory of the Holocaust will no longer be on Internet. I think this is a great victory for anti-racist organizations. The judge has relied on the experts technical advise, and on morals, which we consider to be the most important element in this affair. It is for this that we have fought for nine months." 0.53 3. SLV JOURNALISTS INSIDE JUSTICE PALACE 0.57 4. (SOUNDBITE) (French) MARC KNOBEL, PRESIDENT LICRAA (LEAGUE AGAINST RACISM AND ANTISEMITISM), SAYING: "Neither on Internet, or anywhere else in the world, can we tolerate barbarity, racism, antisemitism or crimes against humanity. We make a call to all websurfers: the net is what we make of it. If someone sells objects of crime or trash, fight against it. Fight the cybermerchants, make your voice heard, which is the voice of humanity, the one that says 'no to racism, anti-semitism and the crime of genocide'." 1.32 5. SLV JOURNALISTS INSIDE JUSTICE PALACE 1.36 6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) MARC LEVY, LAWYER FOR LICRAA, SAYING: "If on February 20 we still find on the site the nazi auction objects, each day that goes by, a 100,000 francs fine will be in order. This does not mean Yahoo will pay it, because the judge will use his discretion to settle this, but I am confident that Yahoo will stop the dirty play and will finally execute the judges decision." 2.16 7. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHRISTOPHE PECNARD, LAWYER FOR YAHOO FRANCE, SAYING: "What bothers us is to know that we will have to put in place a decision which we know is uncertain and imperfect, even though every one admits that such is the case, and now we will have to put it in action, at the risk of being fined. The experts have said that filtering is possible but they recognized what we said already in July: that filtering is possible but with a 70 percent margin of error. We think this margin is too high. The experts have not been clear about what we are supposed to do to identify illicit sites once we have spotted the surfers. The report is very brief on this issue. It's annoying for an American company to have to respect French law, then Italian law, then the laws of many other countries. Is this not some kind of apriori censorship?" 3.23 8. MV JOURNALISTS INSIDE JUSTICE PALACE 3.34 9. SCU COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING YAHOO NAZI SITE; SCU WOMAN LOOKING AT WEBSITE (4 SHOTS) 3.55 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 6th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA3A7IRPX0G8PE6OSLYV1Y4V0DF
- Story Text: In a landmark ruling with potential implications for
web users around the world, a French court on Monday ordered
U.S. Internet giant Yahoo to stop people in France from
accessing sites selling Nazi memorabilia.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gomez gave the California-based
company three months to set up the necessary filtering system
for its network and said it would be fined 100,000 francs
($13,000) for each day it exceeded the deadline.
Yahoo, which had argued that it could not bar French
surfers from seeing the Nazi sales on its English-language
Yahoo.com service, said the ruling set a dangerous precedent
for the Internet and that it was considering an appeal.
Shares of Yahoo Inc. YHOO.O fell more than five percent
on New York's Nasdaq stock market after the verdict.
Activists for the Paris-based International League against
Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and the Union of French
Jewish Students (UEJF), who brought the legal action, hailed
the verdict as a triumph for democracy.
"This is not the time to forget Nazism. This is the time
to say that on the Internet, as for anywhere else in the
world, one should not tolerate Nazi barbarity," said LICRA
representative Marc Knobel.
Under French law, it is illegal to exhibit or sell objects
with racist overtones and Yahoo's French portal does not carry
Nazi online auctions. However, French surfers, like all
others, can switch over to Yahoo.com services with a click of
the mouse.
Yahoo lawyers said that the U.S. first amendment governing
freedom of speech prevented the firm from halting the sales of
items such as Nazi books, daggers, concentration camp uniforms
and SS badges on sites hosted by Yahoo.com.
JUDGE DEMANDS ETHICAL RESTRAINT
Judge Gomez brushed this argument aside, saying that Yahoo
already refused to carry auctions of living animals, human
organs and drugs, and should therefore, at very least, make it
impossible for the Nazi sales to be visible in France.
"This is an ethical and moral restraint that all
democratic societies support," Gomez said in the ruling, which
he read out in an ornate chamber inside the Paris court
complex.
The verdict could also have implications for other big
U.S. Internet businesses with global reach like the e-retailer
Amazon.com and online auctioneer eBay, as anti-racist
activists promised further legal action in France.
"We have won this first battle, but there will be others.
We won't let people get away with racism or anti-semitism on
the net, whatever the site," Knobel said.
Monday's ruling ended six months of legal wrangling, with
the court having to turn to a panel of three computer experts
to decide whether Yahoo was right to say that it could not
prevent access to certain sites in certain countries.
The trio reported back earlier this month, saying that a
filter system registering keywords could block access to the
offending web pages for 90 percent of French surfers.
Yahoo argued that sellers determined to reach the French
market could easily circumnavigate the filter. It has also
warned that a French ban could force the Internet back within
national boundaries.
"We regret very much having to apply measures which, as
has already been said, will not be efficient," said Yahoo
lawyer Christophe Pecnard. "One can easily imagine the
consequences. We hope that other countries don't follow suit."
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