Yahoo! Not Bound by French Court Ruling

Klerck writes "Luckily, a US federal judge has ruled that Yahoo! is not bound by the French ruling that demanded that all Nazi memorabilia be removed from its auction site. It's a nice surprise to have a sensible ruling come out of a federal court in times like these."

Yeah!

[Juju]

Now let's hope that a Thai federal judge will rule that Yahoo! is not bound by the US ruling that demanded that all Child-porn memorabilia be removed from its auction site. It would be a nice surprise to have a sensible ruling come out of a federal court in times like these.

And no, I don't think this is funny!

Re:Where was the EFF foundation?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or perhaps they thought that their limited amount of money is better spent on defending individuals who face 10 year in prison for writing software (that's right, sklyarov never distributed the software himself), instead of defending a multinational corporation which has the money and lawyers to defend themselves.

Actually, this opens up a larger question.

[the_Bionic_lemming]

I am a U.S. Citizen that hosts 3 web sites on a server Based in Canada. Who's laws will I need to follow? Are my sites considered free speech? Or do I need to provide a french translation on the site?

This latest ruling, while all good in well in allowing operators to control their own content is just a baby step twords addressing the eventual evolution of laws governing the internet.

An interesting precedent

[SerpentMage]

This sets of an interesting precedent and something that I do not know if the world is ready to accept. It basically says that I can do, say, sell and buy anything I want so long as the country where I am doing the transaction allows it.

So putting this into context. I could legally in US buy drugs so long as the transaction is carried out in Holland. Of course the comment would be "Gee Einstein how are you going to get the drugs to the US?". Well that is beside the point. What it says is that I can basically money launder because if the transaction occurs within a country that does not ask of the origin it is legal.

Consider it this way. I make drug money. The money is considered income in a country that does not ask questions. The country asks for a 10% cut and calls the money legal. At that point I have the right to take that money into my own country. Of course US citizens may have problems because they have special tax laws. But if I was a non-US citzen living in the US I would be exempt (I think). So at that point I have legal money since I paid tax at source.

Ok I may be over-simplifying some things, but the precedent is still set and freezing of terrorist monies may not be legal anymore. Interesting!!!

World Government

[Dutchmaan]

Situations like this are going to bring about an eventual world government. the case being that there seems to be a need now for some sort of *enforceable* world law or common standard between nations. War will never unify the world, but you can bet petty lawsuits will.

Re:This is the dumbest shit

[Monkeychunks]

Very true. www.shac.net, the website for animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, was removed from it's American based server (though later re-hosted outside America) due to a legal threat citing the DMCA against the host. The startling thing is that HLS (the swines invovled) are a UK based company, and they were objecting to "copyright infringement", and the said copyright was not protected under US jurisdiction. f00k that!

Re:don't be an idiot

[Savage-Rabbit]

That is actually not quite true. The German Police AFAIK like many other EU police forces has liason officers in Thailand that monitor these perverts in cooperation with the Thai police and arrest them over there if they catch them red handed. That is however not as easy as saying it and most of them get away. A more effective method has been to just monitor these groups and make lists of the names of suspicious tourist and search them thoroughly in Customs when they come off the plane in Germany loaded with porn and home videos. There have also been arrests of numerous people organising these tours. Which is why this filthy trade is beginning to move else away from Thailand at least the German part of it.

Judges ruling against each other

[Alien54]

I can just see the to judges now, holding each other in contempt.

"We find you offensive, and demand you pay us to relieve some of the stench of your offensive nature"

In other times, disputes like this have led to wars.

ICraveTV

[Mike_K]

So when US courts shut down ICraveTV a couple of years ago, they had no right to do so?

I think I'm going to Canada and opening an ICraveTV-like website. Now, when major networks take me to court, I'll point to this ruling and laugh.

Oh, wait. Major networks will sue me and win anyway. Money talks, and both of these rulings went in favor of US companies. The day when US courts actually recognize that people in other countries (and non-US citizens) should have the same rights (and responsibilities) as US citizens is far away. Right now, if you're an outsider, you already lost.

m

Re:I hurts some

[sharkey]

That is a very good point. Let us never forget what happened. Thank you for bringing that up. Banning items that would help people remember the atrocities committed by the Nazis would make it easier to forget, and make learning from history that much harder.

Personally, I have several patches taken as trophies from the uniforms of dead and or captured German soldiers, brought back by my Grandfather after the war. There are a couple af swastikas, several rank and corps patches, and a modest-sized bird o' prey clutching a swastika, printed on linen cloth. I keep them on my shelf, next to my M1 rifle, to remind me of my Grandfather, and of what happened.

so happy for decss

[Tom]

I'm so happy about this ruling. if yahoo in the US is not bound by french law, then surely /me in Germany is not bound by silly US laws like the DMCA, right?

uh, right?

why is it that I have this feeling that this knife doesn't cut both ways? or will I be receiving a court document soon (to add to the other 1000 or so pages) that'll tell me I'm dismissed from the California DeCSS suit?

not holding my breath. the ruling is, of course, obvious. at least until the hague convention [lemuria.org] gets passed, which will invalidate it and make all those silly foreign lawsuits enforceable locally. that will be a day! finally you can sue everyone, everywhere for pretty much every imaginable reason.

Not all collectors are nazi sympathisers

[Tassach]

(and it's virtually always sympathisers that buy this stuff, which is why there is a law against selling it)

Any evidence to support this? While I'm sure neo-nazis love to get their hands on original artifacts, there are a lot of people (WWII veterans & history buffs) who collect war trophies from both sides. Both my grandfathers served in WWII; and we have several family friends who are WWII vets as well. One gentleman in particular, a retired Army colonel, has an extensive collection of artifacts that he
acquired in North Africa and Italy. The barber I used to patronize (also a WWII vet) had a huge display case in his shop of war souvineers. I've met dozens of people who collect militaria, and I wouldn't dare call any one of them a Nazi sympathizer (at least not unless I was looking for a fight). A collector isn't necessarily pro-nazi because he buys German artifacts, any more than he would be pro-slavery because he buys Confederate artifacts, or pro-communist because he buys Soviet artifacts.

Re:Sick person

[asdren]

Oh gross! That fucker should be raped with a lamp.

Re:Yeah!

[IronChef]

Personally, I think that anti-hate laws are a good thing. Freedom can only exist within limitations.

I think anti-hate laws are crazy. Pure crazy moon-talk.

It's ALREADY illegal to beat someone up/kill them/etc. Is it really worse to do it because they're black (for example) than to do it because they nailed your wife? Why is one cause worthy of different legal treatment? Ooh, it's a crime based on HATE rather than old fashioned RAGE and STUPIDITY, we better throw the book at them!

Anti-hate laws are pandering to special-interest groups, and/or are some way for white guys to salve their own guilt about past events. In the end, I think they will do more harm than good, because the give special status to some people and that makes other people resentful.

(I don't support affirmitive action either, I think it cheapens the accomplishments of the minorities it claims to protect. But that's another argument.)

It's time for us all to grow up and lose our hyphenated nationality titles and all the stupid laws that protect & encourage their use.

Just my $0.02... better go put on my asbestos typing gloves now...

Re:Yeah!

[bay43270]

Why is this a distinction? Do we want to drop all charges against Milosovich because he's 'not actively killing anyone' anymore? You Americans have no statute of limitations so why should this matter? You're simply protecting your own and not supporting other nations (ie France) If Milosovich wants to go on Larry King before we kill him, that's fine. There's no good reason to keep him from speaking (unless you think everyone is so weak minded, that they would follow him). Does that mean he should be forgiven? No. If the people who are selling these things on Yahoo, are killers (which I think would be a big assumption), then put them on trial, and have them put in the big chair. If you just don't like what their auctioning, then don't buy it. As far as supporting France, you can go F### yourself. My grandfather had most of his stomach removed after he dropped into France. He was never healthy again. If France needs our help, they know they have it. If they want to restrict freedoms in the name of fear, then they should expect exactly what they get.