Holger Voss
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Holger Voss is a German internet user who was sued in January 2003 for a sarcastic comment pertaining to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in an internet discussion forum, a case that attracted nationwide attention in Germany.
Voss' comments were originally made on June 21, 2002 during the course of a discussion relating to an article in German net magazine Telepolis; they ended with the statement "If you find sarcasm, please re-use it" ("Wer Sarkasmus findet, der/die möge ihn bitte weiterverwenden.").
Despite this, Voss was charged following an anonymous report to the police; he received a penalty order for an amount of 1500 Euro, which he appealed to, and was cited to a court hearing on January 8 2003 by the Münster county court. Voss was acquitted of the charge of assentingly accepting that an unbiassed reader might interpret his statements as an approval of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the same day (cf. paragraph 140 StGB); during the course of the trial, it was also revealed that his disclaimer of the posting as sarcasm had been left out from the legal documents provided to the prosecutor by law enforcement agencies.
The case raised considerable attention in Germany, both for its free-speech implications and its implications regarding the liability of internet forum providers for statements made by their members. Voss also claimed that internet service provider T-Online saved his dynamic IP address, which was turned over to law enforcement agencies without a judge's order, for several months in disagreement with German laws (which only allow the saving of IP addresses for as long as is necessary for billing), and initiated legal action in a separate case.
External links
- Holger Voss' posting (http://www.heise.de/tp/foren/go.shtml?read=1&msg_id=1916234&forum_id=30631) (in German)
- "Das Massaker, das nicht sein darf" (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/co/12758/1.html) ("the massacre that must not be", the Telepolis article the posting referred to, in German)
- Stop1984.org: Attention: satire! (http://stop1984.org/index.php?lang=en&text=zensur_aktuelles_satire.txt)
- kein1984.de: Strafprozess wegen Satire im Internet (http://www.kein1984.de/prozess/index.html) (in German)
News coverage
- heise.de, January 5 2003: Forumteilnehmer muß sich vor Gericht verantworten (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/33429)
- Telepolis, January 6 2003: Engine of Justice (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/13907/1.html)
- heise.de, January 7 2003: Auch Online-Diskussionen haben rechtliche Grenzen (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/33464)
- Telepolis, January 7 2003: "Who is to flame" (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/on/13916/1.html)
- Spiegel.de, January 7 2003: Wie sarkastisch darf Sarkasmus sein? (http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,229610,00.html)
- heise.de, January 8 2003: Freispruch für Telepolis-Forenteilnehmer Holger Voss (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/33483)
- Telepolis, January 8 2003: Eine deutsche Justizposse (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/13919/1.html)
- Telepolis, January 8 2003: Das Ende der Fahnenstange? (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/mein/13920/1.html)
- Spiegel.de, January 8 2003: "Das Ende der Fahnenstange" (http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,229829,00.html)
- politik-digital.de, January 9 2003: Vom Forum auf die Anklagebank (http://www.leggewie.de/edemocracy/netzrecht/voss.shtml)
- TAZ, January 10 2003: Wahrer Abschaum (http://www.kverlagundmultimedia.de/Archiv/Chronologisch_2003/Holger_Voss_/holger_voss_.html)
- Telepolis, January 16 2003: Dürfen von Telediensten IP-Adressen von Flatrate-Kunden gespeichert werden? (http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/13978/1.html)
- heise.de, April 16 2003: Anzeige wegen IP-Adressspeicherung gegen T-Online (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/36176)