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     folder U.S-French Gap Narrows Over Fighting Web Hate 
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people John Henry X

Member since
2004-05-20

Posts 83
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5: Entrepreneur

posted 2004-06-17 19:31:41

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/article/suggestToAdmin.jspPARIS - A transatlantic gap over fighting Internet hate crime is narrowing as the United States and France put aside differences to seek a common strategy against Web Sites spreading racism and anti-Semitism, experts said on Thursday.

The two countries, which clashed in recent years over sales of Nazi memorabilia over the U.S.-based Yahoo portal, focused on practical ways to fight Internet hate crime at a two-day Paris conference on the issue, the experts from both states said.

The conference was part of a series of meetings run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to reach a broad agreement by December on common policies among all 55 members in Europe, North America and Central Asia.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said the talks had helped other countries understand Washington's strong legal guarantees on free speech, which have frustrated European government and courts trying to shut down U.S.-based hate sites.

"Even so, there is a great deal of opportunity to move in common with our OSCE partners," he said after the end of the meeting at which delegates said the U.S. and French sides had taken the lead in seeking common ground.

One French delegate said approvingly that Washington and Paris were now holding "a sustained dialogue" on the issues.

"They thought countries would come here to criticize U.S. laws," he said on condition of anonymity. "But we're not trying to change the First Amendment. There is no hidden agenda."

The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S. Jewish group that actively monitors hate sites on the Web, noted a growing consensus despite the contrasting traditions of U.S. free speech and European intervention against objectionable opinions.

"The Atlantic divide is bridgeable," said Brian Marcus, head of the Anti-Defamation League's Internet monitoring project.

DID YAHOO CONDONE WAR CRIMES?

This is a far cry from the clash that broke out in 2000 when a French judge ordered California-based Yahoo! Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to block French users from accessing pages on which Nazi daggers and concentration camp uniforms were being auctioned off.

Yahoo yanked Nazi gear from its auction sites but got a U.S. court ruling saying it did not have to obey a French court.

In return, French Jewish anti-Semitism groups sued the ex-head of Yahoo for condoning war crimes, a case they lost.

The retreat from confrontation has shifted the focus to ways that all OSCE member countries can pressure Internet service providers (ISPs) to include provisions against hate speech in their contracts and cut off Web Sites that violate them.

"If this is part of the terms of service, there are no First Amendment issues, just contract issues," explained Markham Erikson of the Washington-based Net Coalition representing Internet service providers, portals and search engines.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, chairman of the OSCE meeting, said delegations had also agreed to promote projects by non-governmental organizations to monitor racist and anti-Semitic Web Sites and alert police of any crimes.

This calmed U.S. concerns about having state authorities decide which sites and what content to monitor, delegates said.

Alexander Acosta, another U.S. assistant attorney general, said the talks had helped European officials to see the First Amendment did not stop U.S. authorities from prosecuting cases where Web Sites carry threats or calls to violence.

The OSCE-sponsored talks will continue in Warsaw in October and should wind up with common guidelines at the OSCE annual meeting in Sofia in December.
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