German libel law gets scary

A few days ago I argued that the chilling of online discussion via libel was less of a threat than it might appear. However, it appears that in Germany there’s indeed a problem. A court ruling has held that forum operators are liable for anything illegal posted on their forums. While the actual case referred to an anti-spyware script, the ruling also seems to be regarded as applying to instances of commercial defamation.

Hopefully, this will get overturned on appeal, or else in the German Parliament, and things will end up more in line with US law. But for now, it’s worrisome.

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