By Suzanna Kerridge, 7 November 2000 18:16
NEWS It could be possible to put in place a voluntary system of declaration of nationality, as well as filtering sites by keywords, to prevent French users viewing Nazi memorabilia on the Yahoo! auction site. Gomez chose three independent experts - internet guru, Winton Cerf, Francois Wallen and Ben Laurie - to offer advice to the court. The question is whether it would be possible to identify and block surfers from certain French regions, or to prevent the American-based site being viewed by surfers with particular IP addresses. In court yesterday, Christophe Pecnard, a lawyer for Yahoo!, claimed it is an insurmountable problem and that putting in place a filter to prevent French citizens accessing the auction site is an impossibility. The lawsuit was brought against Yahoo! by the international league against racism and antisemitism (Licra), and the union of Jewish students of France (UEJF). Even with a positive outcome in the French courts, Licra will still have to fight the case through the American courts if the order is to be applied to the California-based company. Gomez is expected to deliver his verdict on 20 November.
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