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Fighting illegal internet
content - May access providers be required to ban foreign websites?
A recent German approach
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by
Pascal H. Schumacher
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Abstract
On February 6th 2002, the North Rhine-Westphalian district government
asked the local access providers to block the access to two American
websites containing racist and anti-Semitic information. These blocking
decrees have triggered off a controversy about the providers' legal
responsibility in general and especially the access providers' responsibility
for web content. Lobbyist groups have articulated indignation towards
the district government's measures. The decrees have been labeled
as public censorship and calls for protection of the freedom of
expression have risen. It might be the political explosiveness of
the topic that has recently set off such a great number of comments
and statements. In the following report, the various aspects of
this controversial argument will be portrayed, discussed and evaluated
along with the current problems.
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