Source: AP
By:
(OSLO, Norway) — Norwegian authorities have assessed a $38,000 fine against an Internet provider because customers put banned pornography on its server, the company’s lawyer said Thursday.
The privately owned Tele2 phone company will challenge the fine in court as a test of an Internet provider’s legal responsibility, said Erling O. Lyngtveidt, an attorney for the company.
“This is an exciting and interesting case because we have not had one like it in Norway,” he said. “This case asks the question of whether a technical provider can be held responsible for what thousands of people all over the world put on their news server.”
Lyngtveidt said economic crime police found what they considered pornography on the company’s server. He said Tele2 tries to weed out such material.
“The offense is seen as grave because it has gone on for a long time and with a large quantity of material being available to a large number of customers,” the economic crime unit said. It said the company could have stopped the spread of material through tighter internal control.
Police refused to give any additional details.
Lyngtveidt said the total amount of information on the server corresponds to what would be stored on 30,000 computer diskettes, all of which would have to be checked three times a week to prevent any unwanted material from being posted there.
Lyngtveidt said the case could go to court later this year.
