Yahoo! back in court to defend Nazi memorabilia sales

Yahoo! and French civil rights groups are to go to court in America to defend what Yahoo! sees as its constitutional right to free speech on the net.

Last year, Yahoo! was sued in a French court for selling Nazi memorabilia through its auction sites - a sale that was legal in the US and the UK but illegal in France.

Now the battle has gone to the US courts and Yahoo! looks likely to gain support from US-based civil liberties groups as it defends its right for free speech and to run content uncensored under national jurisdictions.

Yahoo! argued that it was impossible to stop French users from seeing the Nazi memorabilia site, but the French court found against the company and banned the material from its auctions earlier this year. eBay followed suit.

But Yahoo! filed an appeal in a low level US federal court to challenge this enforcement of French laws in the US, arguing that doing so violated the constitutional rights of free speech.

Two French civil rights groups challenged the motion to hear the case. However, the federal judge rejected their challenge and agreed to hear it. The French groups are now challenging that decision, preparing the way for a long series of court battles.