Yahoo! has been backed in its California district court case by
several industry groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, the
Information Technology Association of America, the Online
Publishers Association, and the United States Council for
International Business.
The business organisations argue that, if the French court’s
ruling stands, all web sites would be required to comply with the
strictest law of any county, which would jeopardise free trade and
free speech.
French law prohibits the incitement of racial hatred and
accordingly the sale of Nazi and racially insensitive merchandise.
Yahoo’s argues that its auction site, though accessible in France,
was based in the US and the French Yahoo! site, yahoo.fr, complied
with French law.
When the court order was made, Yahoo! changed its policy on
hosting auctions selling Nazi memorabilia so the order became
academic. However, Yahoo! then raised the action in the US court,
seeking a declaration that the French court had no jurisdictional
right to restrict the content carried on its US-based web
server.
The hearing is scheduled for later this month.
