Yahoo! is in the hot seat once again for allowing Nazi-related items on its
auction site.
A Paris, France-based group representing Nazi concentration camp victims
has filed a lawsuit against Tim Koogle, Yahoo’s chairman, over his firm’s
“alleged justification of war crimes.”
Their demand? One French franc, which has a U.S. equivalent of 15 cents.
The one franc damages is deemed as “significant damage” by Charles
Korman, a French barrister who file the lawsuit. Barrister feels that the
charge will open the way for Yahoo to pay for a series of advertisements in
French and North American newspaper to publicize the judgment.
The counselor has previously been successful in tackling so-called
revisionists who claim that the Holocaust never happened, according to
Reuters, which noted that Korman believes that if someone organizes a system
like an auction where people bid for the best price, you excuse these
crimes, and they become commonplace.
Yahoo! has faced the wrath of French courtrooms and U.S. civil rights
groups for allowing “hate” material to be allowed on its auction site.
Products in question included Klu Klux Klan robes and swastika T-shirts.
Earlier this month, the company implemented a monitoring program to prevent questionable materials from being offered.
However, the company allowed coins, plates and related items to remain as auction items.
A French court had ordered the auction site to pay fines of about $13,000
a day if it did not install technology that would shield French users from
seeing Nazi-related memorabilia on its auction site. French law prohibits
the display of such material.
Last February, eBay, a Yahoo competitor, experienced similar public
pressure. The company now prohibits the sale of Nazi or Klan items that are
less than 50 years old.
A Yahoo! spokesperson could not be reached for comment at press time.