@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 Sender: Arun Mehta <•••@••.•••> Subject: Solidarity with compuserved Germans I received the enclosed from Franz Wegener, who is one of a few Germans fighting the Compuserve nonsense -- very imaginatively, I might add. He would like some international solidarity, so could people fax him, preferably on an important-looking letterhead? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 09 Jan 96 11:30:11 EST From: Franz Wegener <•••@••.•••> To: Arun Mehta <•••@••.•••> Franz Wegener Heinrichstr. 25 45964 Gladbeck Tel. 02043-22197 Fax 02043-21776 e-mail: •••@••.••• Translated by: David W. Fenton New York University •••@••.••• http://pages.nyu.edu/~dwf4930 This letter advises the media that the writers of the letters have filed charges against the German Post Office for transporting child porn, by analogy with the actions of the justice officials who investigated CompuServe. The first letter explains that for journalists, while the second is the one sent to the legal authorities registering the complaint. It seems very level-headed and quite clever. I hope one our German friends will correct any of my errors. Filed charges against the German Post Office for transporting child porn ------- Franz Wegener Gladbeck, 04.01.96 Ratsherr der Fraktion Buendnis 90/Gruene Gladbeck Heinrichstr. 25 45964 Gladbeck Tel. 02043/22197 FAX 02043/21776 e-mail: •••@••.••• Stefan Laurin Ratsherr der Fraktion Buendnis 90/Gruene Gladbeck Horster Str. 108 45964 Gladbeck Tel. 02043/72422 FAX 02043/21776 e-mail: •••@••.••• Eva-Maria Stuckel Vorsitzende des Kulturfoerdervereins Ruhrgebiet e.V. Grabenstr. 43 45964 Gladbeck Tel. 02043/29067 FAX 02043/21776 An die Presse - Medienressort - To newspapers Re: Worldwide Censure of 200 Internet Discussion Groups on the ground of German official pressure. Specifically: Charges against the German Post Office for the distribution of child pornography Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, It is one of the most crucial subjects of the next Decade, freedom or censorship of the Internet. In November 1995, the Bavarian criminal police investigators visited the place of business of the American online service Compuserve in Munich. After two weeks of media reports with the completely untenable message "CompuServe=Pornographie" the Company caved in and blocked access to 200 Internet discussion groups, groups in which pornographic material from private individuals was also offered. The online provider has no influence whatsoever on the contents of these groups. They act only like the Post Office, which provides the distribution and delivery, but does not shape the contents itself. Usenet groups of the international Gay and Lesbian community also fell victim to the censorship of groups. That one single pornographic photo in any particular discussion group suffices as an occasion for censorship brings the whole freedom of the Internet into question. Because of the democratic structure of the Net, any individual can post whatever content in such a group, even if it is concerned, for example, only with medical subjects. Meanwhile, in the USA there are understandable beginnings of a broad boycott movement against German institutions and products because the decision of the German authorities led to a worldwide blockage of the broader parts of the Internet for four million Compuserve customers. Fundamentally, this subject comes down to the question of how online services will be treated legally, now and in the future: can they be held accountable, like television stations, for the contents they transport, or are they like the Post Office, not responsible for that which flows through their channels? This question, which has been discussed in the USA for several months, has already been answered in Germany by the Bavarian criminal police authorities in cooperation with the Bundesjustizministerim. In the German Federal Republic, these clear warnings of the Bundesjustizministerium can be taken to mean that proprieters of online services and establishments which offer access to the internet are answerable for illegal content. German criminal prosecution authorities "can prevent German business concerns from making access to forbidden material possible," according to Ministeriumssprecher Boehm (ap of Jan. 3-4, 1996). We appeal to the German Justice Ministry to judge online services and Internet service providers legally equivalent to the Post Office and the telephone company and not like television broadcasters, which can be held responsible for their contents. It would be absurd to prohibit mail correspondence on the grounds that right radicals send letter bombs by this method! In order to dramatize the problem, we have today filed legal charges against the German Post Office because of the distribution of child pornography. >Mit freundlichen Gruessen >Franz Wegener - Eva-Maria Stuckel - Stefan Laurin Enclosure Franz Wegener Gladbeck, 04.01.1996 Stefan Laurin Eva-Maria Stuckel An die Staatsanwaltschaft Essen Zweigertstr. 34-36 Tel. 0201-8030 Fax 0201-8032920 45317 ESSEN Anzeige gegen die deutsche Post Notice against the German Post Office Dear ladies and Gentlemen, >>From various media reports it has been long known that several Scandinavian mail-order establishiments have distributed child pornography through the mail. The Bundesjustizministerium declares that proprieters of online services and establishments which offer Internet access can be held answerable for illegal contents. German criminal prosecution authorities "can prevent German business concerns from making access to forbidden material possible," according to Ministeriumssprecher Boehm (Taz --Tageszeitung of Jan. 3-4, 1996). But in this respect, the German Post Office also offends [in its role] as a distributer of illegal contents -- even if they (like the online services) have no influence on the contents of the letters and packages with video cassettes they transport -- we register with this letter a charge against the Post Office on account of the distribution of child pornography. We hope that the Staatsanwaltschaft therefore takes care that the distribution of child pornography will be immediately stopped. Mit freundlichen Gruessen Franz Wegener, Stefan Laurin, Eva-Maria Stuckel --------------------- Arun Mehta, B-69 Lajpat Nagar-I, New Delhi-24, India. Phone 6841172,6849103 •••@••.••• •••@••.••• •••@••.••• http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm "I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."--Gandhi @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/ CyberLib: http://www.internet-eireann.ie/cyberlib Materials may be reposted in their entirety for non-commercial use. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
