[Foundation-l] ID requirements proposed for Germans using video sites

[Thomas Dalton]

2009/4/23 David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com>:
> http://newteevee.com/2009/04/20/achtung-youtube-germany-proposes-federal-id-checks-for-online-video-sites/
>
> German readers - how much of a danger is this? Is Commons enough of a
> "video site"?

Commons isn't a German site, so I don't see a problem. The WMF has
always said that it intends to follow US law only and not try and
cater to the laws of every country in the world - that includes
Germany. The article mentions a plan to force German ISPs to block
illegal sites, but that seems to be just to do with child pornography,
similar to the IWF blacklist in the UK (but done officially, so it
might actually be accountable). It seems unlikely to me that Germany
would block access to non-child porn foreign sites until this law,
people would immeadiately start comparing it to China and I doubt they
want that.