The case marked the second time the German courts have ruled on the Web auction of Nazi manifesto Mein Kampf. Yahoo!, which sees the court decision as reinforcement of its stance against a French court ruling, said it will continue to remove illegal or inappropriate items from its Web sites in all nations.

Limited Liability

While Germany has some of the strongest laws against hate literature in the world, the German court reportedly recognized Yahoo! as an Internet service provider (ISP) and, as such, ruled the company should not be held liable for the content of its auction Web sites.

A Yahoo! representative said the company seeks to limit its liability by setting up operations in the different countries where Yahoo! reaches Web users.

"Yahoo! abides by jurisdiction by setting up limited liability in different countries, such as France," Yahoo's Scott Morris told NewsFactor Network. "That is the case as well in Germany. The French court system is placing judgment against Yahoo.com. They have no problem with our company in France."

Fighting French Courts

Morris said Yahoo's argument against French jurisdiction over the U.S. company, which includes a countersuit to a French civil suit, is made stronger by the German court ruling.

"We've always felt, for the French case, that the jurisdiction argument is strong," Morris told NewsFactor. "Certainly the decision in Germany underscores that. We're pleased, and it does reinforce our position with the French courts."

While Yahoo! has refused a French judge's order to filter Nazi items for French Internet users, the company did announce in January that it was removing all hate-related items, such as Ku Klux Klan and Nazi memorabilia, from all of its auction sites.

When in France

Morris said Yahoo's efforts to address concerns over Nazi or other objectionable items vary depending on the country, but that illegal materials are pulled from Web sites as soon as the company is made aware of them.

"Whenever there is material that is deemed illegal in the country in which we do business, we certainly take down items that are illegal," Morris said. "On many sites, we take that a bit further with our own internal policies."

Morris said while Hitler's diatribe, Mein Kampf, would be fine for auction in the United States, it was probably not acceptable in France or Germany.

Legal Nudging

Yahoo!, which Morris said "asked a U.S. court to agree that French courts didn't have jurisdiction over a U.S. company," and other Internet companies, have made its own moves to remove objectionable material and items from Web sites.

Another Internet giant, Amazon.com, ended up banning its sale of Nazi memorabilia to German Web users last year following a similar case involving the auction of Mein Kampf.

Still, Yahoo! representatives maintain that they should not be legally forced to take such measures.

"We cannot adhere to every law in every country in the world, it's just not possible," Morris said. "That's why it boils down to jurisdiction."