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April 11, 2005
Germany rules some links are illegal
A Munich court has ruled that linking to some websites is illegal.
The ruling comes after German IT site Heise Online included a link to Slysoft, a company alleged to be involved in providing tools that help online music piracy.
A body representing the German music industry had taken Heise to court and sued for €500,000, to reflect profit losses argued to have arisen from helping users find the site.
According to the Register report, the link broke German civil law, because:
Heise intentionally provided "assistance in the fulfillment of unlawful acts" and is therefore liable as "an aider and abettor", as described in Section 830 of the German Civil Code.
The ruling sets an awkward precendent on the issues of freedom of the press when applied to the internet. This is an area already under scrutiny in America, after a group of media companies launched a legal challenge against Apple after a US court ruling determined that websites are not granted press protection under the US Consitution.
Posted by at April 11, 2005 05:52 PM
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