Subject category:
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Published by:
Asia Case Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Version: 26 July 2002
Length: 2 pages
Share a link:
https://casecent.re/p/21702
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Abstract
Yahoo! Inc (Yahoo) operated a number of websites, including an auction site, a search engine directory at Yahoo.com (written in English) and a regional site at Yahoo.fr (written in French). On Yahoo''s auction site, various third parties posted for sale Nazi-related propaganda and Third Reich related memorabilia, including Adolf Hitler''s Mein Kampf and ''The Protocol of the Elders of Zion'' (an infamous anti-Semitic report). In April 2000, the French-based International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating anti-Semitism, sent a ''cease and desist'' letter to Yahoo. LICRA warned Yahoo that the advertising and/or the sale of Nazi memorabilia and racist literature or objects on its auction site were prohibited in France. Another non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating anti-Semitism, L''Union des Etudiants Juifs de France, joined LICRA and took Yahoo to court. This case discusses how foreign courts have reached far to assume jurisdiction over e-business. It also demonstrates that e-business faces increased risks of liability abroad as countries bolster their efforts to put up borders in cyberspace. This case also explores the steps e-businesses can take to reduce the litigation risks in inconvenient or inhospitable forums. The teaching note was written by Ali Farhoomand, Mary Ho, and Bryan Wong.
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Abstract
Yahoo! Inc (Yahoo) operated a number of websites, including an auction site, a search engine directory at Yahoo.com (written in English) and a regional site at Yahoo.fr (written in French). On Yahoo''s auction site, various third parties posted for sale Nazi-related propaganda and Third Reich related memorabilia, including Adolf Hitler''s Mein Kampf and ''The Protocol of the Elders of Zion'' (an infamous anti-Semitic report). In April 2000, the French-based International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating anti-Semitism, sent a ''cease and desist'' letter to Yahoo. LICRA warned Yahoo that the advertising and/or the sale of Nazi memorabilia and racist literature or objects on its auction site were prohibited in France. Another non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating anti-Semitism, L''Union des Etudiants Juifs de France, joined LICRA and took Yahoo to court. This case discusses how foreign courts have reached far to assume jurisdiction over e-business. It also demonstrates that e-business faces increased risks of liability abroad as countries bolster their efforts to put up borders in cyberspace. This case also explores the steps e-businesses can take to reduce the litigation risks in inconvenient or inhospitable forums. The teaching note was written by Ali Farhoomand, Mary Ho, and Bryan Wong.