Yahoo! bans Nazi artifact auctions

By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff

01.03.01

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Yahoo! Inc. said yesterday it would stop carrying online auctions of Nazi artifacts and other hate-related materials.

The ban, which takes effect Jan. 10, could satisfy a November court ruling in France requiring Yahoo! to block French users from such auctions.

Although Yahoo! has insisted it cannot limit access to certain geographic regions, it could effectively comply with the French court by blocking everyone from seeing such items. However, the company also said it still opposed the French ruling and would continue to appeal it.

The newly banned items at Yahoo! include medals, weapons, uniforms, official documents and other items that carry swastikas or other symbols associated with hate groups. They join a banned list that now includes cigarettes, live animals and used underwear.

The BBC reported that Yahoo! also would ban the sale of items that promoted hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Although there would be some gray areas under the new policy, a Yahoo! spokesman said that items sold recently, such as a watercolor painted by Adolf Hitler and a recruiting poster for the Nazi SS, would now be banned, according to the BBC.

The new guidelines will also apply to the site's classified listings and its e-commerce partners. Yahoo! search directories, chat rooms and other areas are not affected.

The senior auction producer at Yahoo!, Brian Fitzgerald, said the court order played no role in the new policy, other than to raise awareness internally and speed the decision. "We decided we don't necessarily want to profit from items that promote hatred or glorify hatred and violence," Fitzgerald said.

But Mark Gambale, a consultant at Gomez Inc. in Waltham, Mass., questioned the timing. "International law has a unique way of evolving," he said. "Yahoo! is trying to clean its own house here."

Yahoo! will also begin screening sale items before they are listed. Computer software will reject any item that appears to violate the site's policies. Users will be able to appeal rejections to a human being. Online auction sites typically reject items only after they are posted.

The leading online auction site, eBay, bans hate materials, although some restrictions apply only in Germany, France, Austria and Italy — countries where such items are illegal. Sellers may not ship such items there, and buyers from those countries may not bid on them.

In April, two French groups sued Yahoo!, accusing the U.S. company of violating French law barring the display or sale of racist material. The French judge who ruled in November said Yahoo! must prevent French users from taking part in auctions of such items, or face $13,000 a day in fines.

On Dec. 21, the company asked a U.S. court to block the order, saying France didn't have jurisdiction over Yahoo!

The company said it would continue its legal appeals against the French ruling, in spite of its latest move yielding to it, the BBC reported, because Yahoo! believes the ruling will have a "significant chilling effect on the freedom of expression for users of Yahoo! and other U.S.-based ISPs."

"The case continues because there's an important issue at stake," BBC quoted Yahoo! lawyer Michael Traynor as saying. "It's one thing to do something voluntarily, but it's another to be ordered to be ordered to do something."

He added that Yahoo! barred the Nazi sales because "the company shared a general concern about hate speech."

"But the company also is concerned about freedom of speech, which is why we will continue to fight the French court's order," Traynor said.

Update

Yahoo! not subject to French order banning sale of Nazi artifacts
Federal judge: First Amendment protects content generated in U.S. by American companies from being regulated by countries with more restrictive free-expression laws.  11.09.01

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French judge orders Yahoo!'s Nazi auction 'zoned' so French can't bid
British newspaper calls it 'first attempt by any country to impose international censorship' on World Wide Web.  11.21.00