The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) yesterday debated whether access providers should in future block websites containing illegal content from third parties. “Until now, the legal situation has been that the provider was generally not liable for legal infringements on the Internet”, says eco Director of Policy and Law Oliver Süme. “It therefore makes no sense to force the providers into the role of auxiliary police – and, in addition, the technical procedures required for the monitoring and filtering of the data traffic of users are in contravention of the Secrecy of Telecommunications and the Data Protection Act. We have been fighting for years against the suggestion of building up an infrastructure for blocking, and we will continue to do so.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Copying Rights (GEMA – die Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte) against Deutsche Telekom. It specifically demanded the blocking of an Internet site through which a collection of copyright protected music can be accessed. The lower court, the Higher Regional Court Hamburg, had previously dismissed the case, and GEMA then appealed this decision. The Federal Court is expected to announce its decision on 26 November. “The Federal Court must now restore legal certainty for access providers with an appropriate verdict, and in any event avoid unnecessary blocking infrastructure”, Süme insists.
