Paris court lets Yahoo off the hook on previous Nazi auctions
A Paris court has thrown out a second case filed by French activists against Yahoo that it should be held responsible for previous Nazi items' auctions according to this AP story in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required):
Yahoo, of Sunnyvale, Calif., has had a three-year legal tussle in France. An initial case started in 2000, when France's Union of Jewish Students and the International Anti-Racism and Anti-Semitism League sued it for allowing Nazi collectibles, including flags emblazoned with swastikas, to be sold on its auction pages.
The case led to a landmark ruling in France, with a court ordering Yahoo to block Internet surfers in France from auctions selling Nazi memorabilia. French law bars the display or sale of racist material.
...The company banned hate-related items from its auction pages in January 2001, though Third Reich stamps and coins remain acceptable. The move was made as Yahoo began charging users to make auction listings, and the company didn't want to profit from such material.