ISPs want review of Yahoo Nazi verdict

European ISPs want the European Union to step in over a French court's decision that Yahoo must stop French web surfers from accessing its US auction pages.

Ian Lynch

European ISPs want the European Union to step in over a French court's decision that Yahoo must stop French web surfers from accessing its US auction pages.

The European ISP Association (EuroISPA) has asked Antonio Vitorino, the EU Commissioner for justice and home affairs, for an urgent review of the case.

Advertisement

Last month, French judge Jean-Jacques Gomez rejected claims by Yahoo that it was technically unable to block French visitors to parts of the US site selling Nazi material, and was therefore unable to comply with the court's ruling, first ordered in May in a case brought under French anti-hate speech laws.

He gave Yahoo three months to block access to auctions containing Nazi paraphernalia on the Yahoo US site, or face a fine of 15,000 euros per day. Yahoo had already blocked access to this type of content on its French site.

However, EuroISPA believes the decision is contrary to new EU laws on ecommerce.

"The recently adopted European directive on electronic commerce is quite clear," EuroISPA said in a statement. "That directive, supported by the French government, removes liability from intermediaries who act only as a 'mere conduit' for access to information and, crucially for privacy and freedom, removes the requirement to actively monitor internet traffic.

"France has been closely involved in the drafting of that directors, but presently a French court has contradicted this position. The European Commission must ensure that the French government lives up to its obligations under the directive."

Experts have warned that this, and similar legal cases, may drag on for some time.

"It is not a case of good or bad, right or wrong. It is a legal point and local law still applies even on the internet," said Alexander Drobik, vice-president of business management at analyst Gartner.

"The internet hare has been caught by the legal tortoise - and it has quite vicious claws," he added.

Additional reporting by Andy McCue, Computing

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Share

Tags:

Do you agree?

Further reading

Yahoo faces up to crunch court decision

The legal action between Yahoo and the Paris-based League Against anti-Semitism and Racism moves closer to a conclusion next month when a US court decides whether or not to protect Yahoo from a French court's decision.

Yahoo drops Nazis, adds auction fees

Yahoo will throw Nazi paraphenalia and other hate-related material off its US auction site, under pressure from users.

Yahoo! fights French over Nazis

Yahoo! has filed a with a US court over a French court's decision that it must block the sale of Nazi memorabilia on its Web portal.

Yahoo considers new world order

A French court's ruling against Yahoo has stunned the ebusiness community.

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Most watched

Views from the Valley, 9 March 2010

Batteries, browsers and recognition for PARC researchers

Samsung talks up 3D TV

The next big thing, but it will take some time

Analysis and Reports

Continuous Availability for Microsoft SharePoint

This paper examines how to create continuous availability for Microsoft SharePoint by implementing high availability and disaster recovery solutions.

Database security: Preventing enterprise data leaks at the source

This report looks at the challenge of information protection and control (IPC) and how enterprises must adopt database security best practices

Poll

International Women’s Day poll

International Women’s Day poll

Have measures to encourage women into the IT profession been successful?

View poll results

Advertisement

White paper library

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Spotlight

National Digital Inclusion

Stephen Timms defends 50p landline duty

Labour minister claims investment in next-gen broadband is vital to...

Views from the Valley, 9 March 2010

Batteries, browsers and recognition for PARC researchers

Datacentre

Fasthosts offers customisable virtual servers

Customers can dynamically change CPU, memory and storage as needed

Nokia N900

Nokia smartphones 'failing to keep pace'

Reliance on old chip technology could cost market share, say...

Primary Navigation