Concentration camp victims sue Yahoo!

Symbolic damages sought

By Linda Harrison in New York • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 22nd January 2001 20:13 GMT

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Yahoo! faces the wrath of the French again - this time the dotcom's chief is being sued for one franc over allegedly justifying war crimes.

French representatives of former inmates of Nazi concentration camps filed the suit against Yahoo! chairman Tim Koogle today.

The group wants to see the US portal humiliated. It is asking for one French franc (around 15 cents) only in damages, but it will demand that Yahoo! pay for the judgement to be splashed all over the French and US press, as well as on the Net.

The move follows a ruling in a French court in November ordering Yahoo! to stop French surfers accessing Nazi memorabilia on its auction sites. The judge gave the Californian outfit three months, after which time he threatened to fine it 100,000 francs ($14,000) for every day it fails to block surfers.

The company started pursuing its legal options in the US to fight the ban, and earlier this month said it would block all race-hate material from its sites.

Lawyer Charles Korman told Reuters his suit accused Yahoo's Koogle of "justifying war crimes and crimes against humanity".

"If you organize a system like an auction where people bid for the best price, you excuse these crimes, and they become commonplace," Korman said. ®