If this week's border-transcending ruling by Germany's highest court proves anything, it's that an enormous distance remains between advocates of a free Internet and watchdogs against racism and hate-mongering.
Published:
17 December 2000 y., Sunday
The court, called the Bundesgerichtshof, issued a ruling on Tuesday that overturned a lower court ruling, and found that German law applies even to foreigners who post content on the Web in other countries -- so long as that content can be accessed by people inside of Germany. Specifically, the court found Australian Holocaust-denier Frederick Tuben guilty of spreading "Auschwitz lies."
Tuben, who was born in Germany, uses the website of his Australian-based Adelaide Institute to encourage people in the belief that the Holocaust has no historical basis. International reaction to the ruling differed wildly.
Andy Mueller-Maguhn, a leader of Berlin's famed Chaos Computer Club hacker collective and a new Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board member, was blunt in questioning the legitimacy of the ruling. "This German court wants to judge over the whole world in effect," he said. "No one knows what it means. We could easily agree that it seems likely to be a decision made by a judge who does not understand very much."
Mueller-Maguhn, something of a celebrity in Germany as a technology visionary, plans to take immediate action. He said he will contact Germany's highest court on Monday morning and invite someone from the court for a debate before Germany's legislature on the ruling - and how it should be applied in the future.
Šaltinis:
Wired News
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Vodafone first with third-party location service
more »
On Lithuanian laws, business, ideas, organizations and some more interesting links, which could be helpful for every foreigner.
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Owners of the AlcoholicsAnonymous.org Web site have fended off a bid by the national organization to snatch the domain name, saved in part by a wide-ranging disclaimer on the front page.
more »
Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teen hacker, has been indicted for allegedly bypassing DVD anti-copying technology.
more »
High school student was identified by the Securities and Exchange Commission as the mastermind behind an online securities scheme that bilked at least 1,000 investors out of more than US$1 million over a two-month period.
more »
Apple has unveiled the next generation iMac
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Computer users returning after the New Year break are in danger from the latest mass mailing email worms.
more »