4 ms·

gutenberg.org has a link to view it in German on the front page. I guess if you provide several translations and use a top level domain like .org, you are more

by jhasse 9y ago

gutenberg.org has a link to view it in German on the front page. I guess if you provide several translations and use a top level domain like .org, you are more likely an international web site than an English-only .us web site.

Zak 9y ago
All websites that are not intentionally blocked from specific regions by the website operator, a government or internet service providers are available everywhere in the world. English is the world's most spoken language. In effect, most websites are international websites. That doesn't make them subject to the laws of every country. Most legal systems do not accept the standard the German court used and require a more significant physical, legal or economic connection to a country before a website may be subject to its laws.
- jhasse 9y ago
  That's why the reasoning of the court went beyond "It's an international website".
  - Zak 9y ago
    But it did not use reasoning that courts in most other parts of the world accept, including the US coults it would have to ask to enforce its judgement in the absence of voluntary compliance. PGLAF appears to be complying because it wants to win an appeal in German court, which might be compromised by ignoring the ruling of a lower German court. If PGLAF decided to ignore the ruling, there would likely be no consequences.
envy2 9y ago
German is spoken in countries other than Germany: looking at only countries where the German language enjoys some form of official or co-official status, we have Germany (of course), Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Poland also formally recognise German as a minority language. That's not to mention the countless expats/second language speakers around the world. Having a German language version of your website/product is by no means equivalent to being subject to the jurisdiction of Germany the country.
- jhasse 9y ago
  > Having a German language version of your website/product is by no means equivalent to being subject to the jurisdiction of Germany the country. Never said that.

by jhasse 9y ago

Zak 9y ago

All websites that are not intentionally blocked from specific regions by the website operator, a government or internet service providers are available everywhere in the world. English is the world's most spoken language. In effect, most websites are international websites. That doesn't make them subject to the laws of every country. Most legal systems do not accept the standard the German court used and require a more significant physical, legal or economic connection to a country before a website may be subject to its laws.

jhasse 9y ago
That's why the reasoning of the court went beyond "It's an international website".
- Zak 9y ago
  But it did not use reasoning that courts in most other parts of the world accept, including the US coults it would have to ask to enforce its judgement in the absence of voluntary compliance. PGLAF appears to be complying because it wants to win an appeal in German court, which might be compromised by ignoring the ruling of a lower German court. If PGLAF decided to ignore the ruling, there would likely be no consequences.

envy2 9y ago

German is spoken in countries other than Germany: looking at only countries where the German language enjoys some form of official or co-official status, we have Germany (of course), Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Poland also formally recognise German as a minority language. That's not to mention the countless expats/second language speakers around the world. Having a German language version of your website/product is by no means equivalent to being subject to the jurisdiction of Germany the country.

jhasse 9y ago
> Having a German language version of your website/product is by no means equivalent to being subject to the jurisdiction of Germany the country. Never said that.