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                  GERMANY PASSES WORLD'S FIRST CYBERSPACE LAW
                                       
      graphic July 4, 1997
     Web posted at: 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT)
     
     BONN, Germany (AP) -- Germany on Friday became the first country to
     pass a law regulating the free-wheeling global electronic space of
     the Internet.
     
     Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government says the so-called multimedia
     law creates legal clarity that will help boost commercialization of
     cyberspace and combats illegal uses of the Internet such as for
     pornography.
     
     Critics say the law is an example of Germany's urge to regulate and
     may in fact deter investors in Internet services because it does not
     state clearly to what extent the providers would be liable for
     content they don't control.
     
     The law gained final approval in the upper house of parliament, the
     Bundesrat, an unusually swift six months after the government
     proposed it. It takes effect August 1.
     
     "We are entering uncharted territory," said Joerg Appelhans,
     spokesman for Germany's research and technology ministry.
     
     Controversially, the law says online providers can be prosecuted for
     offering a venue for illegal content if they do so knowingly and it
     is "technically possible and reasonable" to prevent it.
     
     This could apply to forums and similar exchanges offered by online
     services without direct control over their content.
     
     However, "the liability provisions for providers are a big unknown,"
     said Christopher Kuner, an Frankfurt attorney specializing in
     cyberspace issues. "It leaves a lot of things open."
     
     The American Chamber of Commerce in Germany says liability for
     Internet services will have to be tested by court rulings, which
     "may cause prudent investors to hesitate."
     
     But research and technology minister Juergen Ruettgers said a law
     was needed, partly to protect German children.
     
     "That applies even to a network that knows no national borders," he
     said. "The Internet is not outside the reach of the law."
     
     Copyright 1997   The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
     material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
     redistributed.  rule
     
  Related stories:
  
     * Countries face cyber-control in their own ways - July 1, 1997
     * Supreme Court strikes down Internet smut law - June 26, 1997
       
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