FC: Free speech groups say wacky French laws must not apply to U.S.

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Previous Politech message:

"U.S. court says Yahoo can thumb nose at wacky French laws"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-02770.html

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Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 15:18:31 -0400
From: Ari Schwartz <ari () cdt org>
Subject: CDT, Public Interest Groups File Brief in Yahoo! Case

CDT, the ACLU, and a broad coalition of other public interest groups
have filed a friend-of-the-court brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals urging the court to uphold free expression rights in a case
with broad international implications.

The brief, available at http://www.cdt.org/jurisdiction/020506yahoo.pdf ,
makes a strong case for the continued
preservation of free speech rights online, emphasizing that content
laws of other nations which violate the First Amendment should be
deemed unenforceable by U.S. courts. A second brief, filed by
concerned members of the Internet industry, is expected shortly, and
will be available on CDT's web site.

Last year, a French court ordered U.S.  publisher Yahoo! to limit the
display of Nazi memorabilia and other artifacts on web sites hosted
by yahoo.com. Such displays are protected by the First Amendment
in the U.S., but are illegal in France. In November, a U.S. court
rejected the French order, preserving free speech online and setting
an important precedent for future attempts at international content
regulation. The U.S. court's ruling has now been appealed.

For more information and court documents concerning the Yahoo!
case, visit http://www.cdt.org/jurisdiction/

The CDT, ACLU, et al. brief is available at
http://www.cdt.org/jurisdiction/020506yahoo.pdf.

For comment, please contact Alan Davidson (abd () cdt org) or Paula
Bruening (pbruening () cdt org) at 202-637-9800.




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