A German academic computer network has blocked the controversial Dutch Web site XS4All in an ongoing battle between free-speech advocates in the Netherlands and the German government.
The Deutsche Forschungsnetz blocked XS4All after getting a warning from German federal prosecutors that Radikal, a left-wing magazine on the Dutch server that was accessible through the network, is illegal because it advocates the overthrow of the current government through terrorism.
All 6,000 Web pages on the XS4All server have been blocked for the past week by the academic network, which serves about 400 universities and research organizations and is the largest academic net in Europe. XS4All only learned of the barricade Wednesday.
Dr. Klaus-Eckart Maass, director of the academic network, said in a letter to XS4All that under current German law, he is obligated to block the server because of Radikal's presence on the network.
But by blocking the magazine, the network has also made inaccessible to students and academics thousands of other sites, such as Radio B92, the independent Belgrade radio station.
In retaliation, XS4All sent a letter Thursday to Maass and to the German state prosecutor - listing the URLs of 40 mirror Web sites where Radikal can be found, none of which the academic network is blocking.
"Censoring the Internet has, in most cases, proved to be counterproductive, as many Internet users mirror the information onto their own sites and start to distribute it," argues Felipe Rodriquez, managing director of XS4All.
This is only the latest skirmish between XS4All and the German authorities. Last September, a number of German ISPs - including Deutsche Forschungsnetz - blocked XS4All for more than a month after complaints about Radikal by the state prosecutor. And, in January, a Bavarian woman was indicted for linking to Radikal on XS4All from her homepage in Germany.
Germany's laws regarding Net content are still evolving. On Friday, the Parliament began debating a bill that would free German ISPs from liability for Net content their users access from other locations, but would still hold them liable for content on their servers. A bill passed last fall criminalizes the electronic distribution of hate speech and of pornography to minors.
