The business organisations argue that, if the French court’s ruling stands, all web sites would be required to comply with the strictest law of any county, which would jeopardise free trade and free speech.
French law prohibits the incitement of racial hatred and accordingly the sale of Nazi and racially insensitive merchandise. Yahoo’s argues that its auction site, though accessible in France, was based in the US and the French Yahoo! site, yahoo.fr, complied with French law.
When the court order was made, Yahoo! changed its policy on hosting auctions selling Nazi memorabilia so the order became academic. However, Yahoo! then raised the action in the US court, seeking a declaration that the French court had no jurisdictional right to restrict the content carried on its US-based web server.
The hearing is scheduled for later this month.