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Online Protest Held Not To Violate German Penal Code
A German appellate court has ruled that coordinated efforts by two human rights groups to overload websites operated by Lufthansa with automatically generated calls were merely intended to influence public opinion and, as such, were not in violation of the German Penal Code. The court overruled a lower court's earlier finding that the actions constituted coercion by use of force in violation of section 240 of the Code.
On June 21, 2001, the groups "Libertad" and "Kein Mensch ist Illegal" ("No one is illegal") called for an online demonstration against Lufthansa to protest against the airline's participation in deportations. The Groups' sympathizers were encouraged to bombard Lufthansa websites with calls generated by specially designed software. Although the effort generated huge publicity and allegedly involved some 13,000 protestors, it is unclear whether it had any significant impact on the websites themselves (Lufthansa had rented additional line capacity in anticipation of the protest).
At first instance, the lower court agreed with Lufthansa and the state prosecutor that the campaign was an illegal act of coercion and that the groups had incited others to break the law. However, the Higher Regional Court has ruled that the protest did not constitute a show of force and that its initiators cannot therefore be charged with coercion.
In response to the ruling, a Libertad spokesperson was quoted as saying: "Although it is virtual in nature, the Internet is still a real public space. Wherever dirty deals go down, protests also have to be possible."
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