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Out-Law News 2 min. read

Yahoo! ordered to block French users from Nazi auctions


Jacques Gomez ruled yesterday in a Paris court that the leading US-based portal Yahoo! must take measures to block French nationals from accessing Yahoo! auction sites that sell Nazi memorabilia.

The company removed the offending site from its French portal, yahoo.fr, to comply with the French law against the sale or exhibition of anything that incites racism; but it refused to remove the auction from yahoo.com because it is not in breach of US law. The case was brought by two human rights groups based in Paris.

Judge Gomez instructed Yahoo! to put in place filtering systems that should block the majority of French users. Following the recommendations of a three-member panel of experts who reported to the court earlier this month, the filtering measures will block French users recognised by their IP address, their use of any of ten keywords, and their self-identification of geographic location. The experts suggested to Judge Gomez that the systems are likely to be 90% effective.

Yahoo! has been given three months to put the filtering systems in place. If it fails to do so, the company faces fines of FFr100,000 (£9,093) per day.

Yahoo! argues that its US-based site should not be subject to French law. A spokeswoman for the portal said: “Does one country have jurisdiction to regulate companies in another country?”

Yahoo! could ask a US court to refuse recognition of the French judgement on the grounds that a French court has no power to impose these sanctions on a US company and that under US law there is a constitutional right to freedom of speech. Yahoo! has no assets in France, so for the judgement to be effective it has to be enforceable in the US.

Jon Fell, a partner of IT law specialists Masons and co-founder of OUT-LAW.COM, said:

"This case highlights one of the most difficult legal issues facing the internet. Any business using the internet is potentially subject to the laws of each country in which its web site can be accessed. Whilst the US and Europe have adopted different approaches to the question of which courts have jurisdiction and which laws will apply to contracts entered into on-line, a common theme has been the need for businesses to target their web sites at a specific audience in certain circumstances. This has been particularly true in the area of financial services and on-line gaming, where it may be unlawful to undertake such business in particular countries.

"In the US the courts have consistently taken the approach that a transactional web site, i.e. one through which contracts can be entered into, will be sufficient to create a place of business enabling the courts to seize jurisdiction. However, the courts have recognised that businesses should be able to ring fence their sites so as to ensure that they are not undertaking business in a particular state. The inclusion of disclaimers and notices making it clear that the owner of the site will only sell its goods or services to people located in certain countries is not in itself sufficient to protect a business. Rather it is essential that this is backed up by back office procedures and technical measures.

"In many respects, if Yahoo! wants to ensure that it is not breaking French Law it should be taking the steps required by the French Court of its own volition in relation to the yahoo.com site and all of its other sites. Whether the US courts will uphold the decision of the French Court and enforce the fine is quite a different matter."

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