<nettime> newsfeed: Schock / Ondes sans frontieres

[Pit Schultz <pit@icf.de>]

[deutschland deutschland... next thing is an international net.police
invented in munich... /p]


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    Von: dwh@berlin.snafu.de (David Hudson)
  Datum: 28.05.98, 15:02:34
Betreff: Schock


[Emphasis mine]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Germany-Internet-Trial.html

May 28, 1998


 Ex-CompuServe Executive Convicted


              Filed at 8:14 a.m. EDT

              By The Associated Press

MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- In a closely watched case about controlling the
Internet, the former head of CompuServe Germany was convicted Thursday
of being an accessory in the distribution of pornography -- ***even 
though prosecutors had argued at the end for his acquittal.***

The pilot case against Felix Somm began as an attempt by German
prosecutors to hold Internet-access providers responsible for the 
material they relay.

>>>>But in their closing arguments, Munich prosecutors reversed
    themselves and asked the court to acquit former CompuServe boss 
    Felix Somm, agreeing with his defense that it was unreasonable to 
    have expected him to block illegal material with the technology 
    then available.<<<< !!

Nevertheless, the Munich district court convicted Somm and sentenced him
to two years probation. Details of the court's reasoning were not
immediately available.

Joachim Jacob, the federal official in charge of privacy issues, called
the sentence ``irritating.''

Prosecutors originally charged that Somm had ``knowingly'' allowed child
pornography and other banned material, including violent computer games
with Nazi symbols, to reach customers from the Internet in 1995 and
1996.

The defense argued that prosecutors were using Somm as a scapegoat in
their fight against online pornography.

Somm, then head of the online provider's German operations, was charged
after Bavarian authorities raided the company's offices in Munich in 1995.
He stepped down after charges were filed.

CompuServe, based in Columbus, Ohio, initially blocked access to some
200 electronic message boards for all of its then-4 million users worldwide,
setting off an international debate over censorship.

Critics charged that German officials were trying to impose their
standards on everyone else and didn't understand the freewheeling nature 
of the Internet.

CompuServe later reinstated access to all but five of the message boards
and introduced software that would allow its customers to block
pornography.

Jacob said he had expected the case to help define the limits of German
censorship laws when applied to the international structure of the
Internet.


_________________________________________________________

David Hudson        REWIRED        http://www.rewired.com

_________________________________________________________



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--- HIER BEGINNT DIE WEITERGELEITETE NACHRICHT------------
    
    Von: borut.savski@kiss.uni-lj.si (Borut Savski)
  Datum: 28.05.98, 08:58:35
Betreff: (Xchange) Ondes sans frontieres

nous defendons depuis le lundi 25 mai 1998 - 61 rue d'avron 75020
Paris -tel:01 46 59 11 11 le droit a la liberte d'expression par
l'occupation des ondes hertziennes sur le canal 36.

OSF <ONDES SANS FRONTIERES> a ouvert sur paris une television
publique  soutenue par le mouvement social, des associations
culturelles, des syndicats et last but not least une multitude
d'electrons libres.

L'abus de liberte d'expression est-il plus criminel que l'abus de
biens sociaux?

nous vous apellons a nous soutenir de toute urgence car il y va de
nos libertes!

Venez sur place a partir de 19heures tous les jours, envoyer
courrier et e-mail a OSF.

http://lia.imt-mrs.fr/connex
cuseeme:  IP:147.94.38.3  ID: 9805
realaudio : pnm://bart.radiostudent.si/mzx/osf.ra
mail:osf@altern.org
tel:0033 (01) 46 59 11 11
----

We need  help !
to  women and men around the world who are engaged in the struggle
for their elementary human rights:
since monday May 25th 1998 in PARIS, at 61 rue d'Avron 75012 ( #
33 1 46 59 11 11)
we are defending the right to liberty of expression (political and
artistic)   by occupying the hertzien  broadcasting frequency on
channel 36 (UHF).

OSF has opened a free and independent television station supported
by political, cultural and trade union organisations and last but
not least some dedicated individuals who do not fit into the above
categories.

We have already been threatened with confiscation  of our means of
broadcast and legal (and possibly criminal) action in court by the
french government.

The exercice of the right to free expression is a road filled with
many formalities to be respected. It seems to be easier  and more
evident for the government in France to prosecute those who do not
respect these petty formalities than to prosecute those who have
abused the confidence of their office as public service or
mis-used public funds.

We call for your urgent support to defend the principe of freedom
of expression throughout the world!

Plaese send messages of support :
"Nous soutenons OSF et le droit d'expression libre sur les ondes
hertziennes en France "

http://lia.imt-mrs.fr/connex
cuseeme:  IP:147.94.38.3  ID: 9805
realaudio : pnm://bart.radiostudent.si/mzx/osf.ra
mail:osf@altern.org

vander@easynet.fr
http://lia.imt-mrs.fr/unitv
-----
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92400 Courbevoie
phone:00 33 - 1 47 88 88 70
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