Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 1-Feb-96 Declan appearing on "Europe.. by Timothy C. May@got.net
The situation with Declan, Sameer, Duncan, and others, is even less clear. Things are moving much faster now that the Net is the means of distribution. I was of course half-joking about Declan visiting Europe, but surely France could decide to throw the book at him, and any EU country he entered (such as Ireland, judging from his name) could hold him at their entry point and ship him off to France to "set an example."
Tim, you really know how to scare a fellow with this Subject: line this early in the morning! My take on the situation, from cyberia and WELL discussions, is that if a book is banned under French law, it may be difficult to sue for copyright violations. (Intuitively, this sorta makes sense. If you are *unable* to sell it, what damages are there?) Also, international law would require that the copyright holder sue in my local U.S. court. I have not heard from either the publisher or author, even though French ISPs have linked to my page and it's been getting a decent amount of traffic. Interestingly, almost all the comments I've received have been positive -- only two negative responses, including one email bombing attempt. I would be interested to know what the publisher and author's perspectives are on this. Reports from France indicate that the publisher, Plon, is *not* going to sue the guy who first put it online.
In Declan's case, I suspect France wants him for the Mitterand book and Germany wants him for the Zundelsite mirrors. The lesser European countries will of course follow their leads.
I'm not too worried about France, but I'm having second thoughts about Germany. Let's just say I'm not planning a vacation there anytime soon. :)
Seriously, Declan, I admire what you've done, but I hope you don't plan to leave the U.S. for Europe anytime soon.
Thanks, Tim. I haven't actually spoken to my attorney (the former head of the local ACLU) about this, and perhaps I should have. *sigh* He'll probably yell at me for getting involved in yet another controversy... -Declan