German Jews Sue Over Hate Sites

B E R L I N, Feb. 20 -- Germany's main Jewish organization says it is preparing to take legal action against Internet firms that host neo-Nazi and far-right Web sites.

The Central Council for Jews Vice President Michel Friedmansaid Monday the group was consulting lawyers and would file suitagainst Internet companies that give access to Web sitescarrying anti-Semitic or racist content banned under Germanlaw.

Friedman said the German government was acting too slowlyin applying strict national laws that ban any material seen toglorify Nazis or the actions of the Third Reich. "We're looking at all [Internet] providers in Germany thatprovide hate information on the spot," Friedman told Reuters."The point is to motivate the government." The council estimates that more than 800 hate-related homepages are already on the World Wide Web.

French Ruling at Issue

Friedman said Germany's Jewish community wanted courts totake a tougher line against hate sites and pointed to a recentFrench ruling against portal Yahoo, which was ordered to blocksurfers in France from auctions in which Nazi memorabilia aresold. In response, Yahoo earlier this month banned any items thatpromote or glorify the Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and other hategroups, though it is still fighting the ruling. There have been previous calls for Germany to follow such amove and supporters of restrictions welcomed a ruling inDecember by Germany's highest civil court that Yahoo wassubject to German law since it was accessible by Germans. Germany's Bavarian courts also have investigatedallegations that a Yahoo auction site sold copies of Hitler'sbanned book, Mein Kampf, within the country. The federal Supreme Court has ordered the retrial of anAustralian for denying the World War II Holocaust on theInternet. The man, Frederick Toeben, had previously been acquitted ofspreading the "Auschwitz Lie" on the basis that hisWeb site was run on computers outside German jurisdiction.