German Prosecutors Probe AOL
PROSECUTORS IN GERMANY have notified America Online Inc. (AOL) that
it may be charged with inciting racial hatred. Prosecutors have recently
served similar notice to CompuServe Inc., and T-Online, a division of
Deutsche Telekom.
Publishing or distributing neo-Nazi literature or literature which questions
any part of the orthodox Holocaust story is illegal in Germany. Violators
are frequently charged with inciting racial hatred. Prosecutors are
now trying to determine how best to enforce their draconian laws in
the otherwise free atmosphere of the Internet.
The primary target of the German prosecutors is material posted by
Ernst Zuendel, a revisionist,
nationalist, and German free-speech activist living in Toronto.
Deutsche Telekom has already buckled to the prosecutors' demands by blocking
its 1 million subscribers from accessing any of the over 1,500 web-pages
stored at Web Communications in California. This action was done with
the sole purpose denying access to Zuendel's materials. Computer users
and free speech advocates from around the world have accused Deutsche
Telekom of overreacting.
CompuServe, the second largest provider in Germany, was severely criticized
in December for having banned over 200 newsgroups that were considered
to be pornographic. They have not yet blocked the California server
but were trying to work out a "solution" with the prosecutors.
AOL spokesman Ingo Reese said that his company was happy to work with the
prosecutors. AOL is "totally opposed'' to illegal propaganda, he said.
In spite of this, Reese argued that commercial on-line companies have
as much control over materials posted on the Internet as telephone companies
have over their customers' conversations.
Adapted from: The Associated Press 02/02/96
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