Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by Findus23 on Saturday March 03, 2018 @05:45PM (#16512139)

I agree with you. Following every law is neither practical and in the case of censorship even counterproductive. I just wanted to point out that the reaction of the court isn’t as entirely pointless as it may seem on first thought.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by cloakandswagger on Saturday March 03, 2018 @06:33PM (#16512363)

PGLAF is incorporated in the US, their site is hosted in the US and their employees live in the US. Tell me again why they need to worry about the law of any country but the US?

It's up to the German courts/government to deny access to sites that break their laws, not try to impose their law on people outside their jurisdiction.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by Tomte on Sunday March 04, 2018 @12:42AM (#16513450)

You don‘t want to tell me that a US court would show any restraint if a non-US based person violated American copyright?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by mcguire on Sunday March 04, 2018 @01:50PM (#16515909)

For many years, China felt no urge to follow international copyright agreements. It was popular in certain circles to buy pirated Chinese editions (in English) of textbooks because they were very cheap.

Likewise, Microsoft has long had problems with pirated versions of Windows. Further, DVDs and CDs....

The general response from US courts was, "eh, what can we do?"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by thomastjeffery on Monday March 05, 2018 @12:59AM (#16519081)

US rightsholders have been seriously abusing copyright outside of US borders. I personally am not okay with it.

If Germany's laws must be applied to a US business, then the US is prima facie not sovereign.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by Mindwipe on Sunday March 04, 2018 @05:03AM (#16514030)

I think you have a big shock coming about how international law works and applies to websites outside of their country.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by robjwells on Saturday March 03, 2018 @05:49PM (#16512166)

> I just wanted to point out that the reaction of the court isn’t as entirely pointless as it may seem on first thought.

And I think you’re right to do so!

Honestly, regarding the whole case, I think the court has erred in accepting the publisher’s argument that Project Gutenberg is a valid target for a lawsuit in Germany.

If the publisher wants the books removed it should sue in the US, if it wants to prevent access from Germany it should seek another local remedy.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by madhadron on Saturday March 03, 2018 @06:13PM (#16512266)

They have no legal basis for the books being removed in the US, since they are in the public domain there. If they can't make German law stick, they have no recourse.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by tonyztan on Saturday March 03, 2018 @08:32PM (#16512783)

They can go for the ISPs, or push for some German law to restrict local access. Doesn't mean they should, though.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by thomastjeffery on Monday March 05, 2018 @01:01AM (#16519084)

Again, said ISPs are US-based, and the only precedent for blocking in the US is DMCA, which considers these works public domain.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Project Gutenberg blocks access from Germany by tonyztan on Monday March 05, 2018 @10:44PM (#16526715)

I'm referring to local ISPs that German users use to access the Internet. Presumably the court can order them to block access to resources.

[ Parent | on HN ]