"The Nuremberg Files" Web Site Finds New Home

The New York Times has reported that the Nuremberg Files Web site gained a new online home this Saturday. The site's new host was not named, but is based in the United States. Several national and international sites also include Nuremberg materials through the use of links or "mirroring."

A federal jury ruled early this month that the Nuremberg site violated the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act (FACE) and federal racketeering statutes and ordered Nuremberg creators to pay $107 million in damages. Passed in 1994, FACE made it a felony offense to blockade or commit violence against women's health care clinics and workers. The Nuremberg trial marked the first time that FACE charges were brought against individuals making threats of violence, rather than engaging in actual physical confrontations.

Although the judge did not order Nuremberg creators to destroy the site, The Nuremberg Files site was temporarily pulled just days after the ruling. Internet service provider Mindspring had pulled the plug, saying that the site violated the company's "acceptable use" policies.

Planned Parenthood Director of litigation Roger K. Evans said that future lawsuits against Nuremberg Files publishers are likely. "There is nothing to prevent hundreds of potential plaintiffs from suing," he said.

However, publishers living outside the U.S. are not vulnerable to such lawsuits. Journalist Karin Spaink of Amsterdam is one such example. Spaink, who belongs to contrast.org, a group that publishes controversial and/or banned Web pages, copied a large portion of the Nuremberg materials last December and published them online Monday.

Spaink has stated that she is pro-choice, but believes that the Nuremberg site does not include direct threats of violence and therefore should be protected speech. Spaink warns Web readers that she may have altered information found on the site "Do not trust the names and addresses you find here, and do not use violence against the people listed here. You may end up shooting your own affiliates," she warns.

Past Stories: Mindspring Pulls Nuremberg Site
Federal Jury Finds "Un-wanted" Posters And "Nuremberg Files" To Be Threats, Not Free Speech
Jury: Web Site in Violation of FACE

Media Resources: New York Times - February 22, 1999

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