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Last update - 20:19 24/07/2009
Jewish group files complaint against German Amazon
By The Associated Press
Tags: Amazon.com, Neo-Nazis 

The American Jewish Committee in Berlin filed a complaint Friday
asking prosecutors to investigate Amazon.de to see if it has broken German laws against Holocaust denial by selling far-right books.

"We must not allow the laws against denying the Holocaust and hate against minorities in Germany to be eroded through the proliferation of online companies," said AJC-Berlin director Deidre Berger in a statement.
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Christine Hoeger, a spokeswoman for Amazon.de, said in an e-mailed response to AP that the company would check the list of books outlined by the AJC once it receives it, to see if the books conflict with Amazon's eligibility requirements.

She said, for example, Amazon does not sell books on a federal list of
material considered harmful to minors, or books that courts have banned.

"Should Amazon - or any other dealer - decide which books German readers should be able to read?" she wrote in the e-mail.

"Amazon is a dealer, not a regulatory institution, and we are of the opinion that the content of media can and should not be evaluated by private businesses that have no expertise or competence in this area."

Amazon.de is the German arm of Seattle-based online retailer Amazon.com Inc.

The books cited by the AJC, such as The Auschwitz Myth by Wilhelm Staeglich and a volume by convicted Holocaust denier Germar Rudolf, were available for sale on Amazon.de Friday afternoon.

Denial of the Nazi Holocaust is a crime in Germany, punishable by a possible five years in prison.

AJC member Benjamin Schoeler, reached by telephone, said the goal of the
complaint, however, is to get Amazon.de to evaluate the books they sell, and pull ones that promote Holocaust denial or anti-Semitism.

Though the books cited by the AJC are all available via second-party sellers through Amazon.de's Marketplace, Schoeler said buyers order and pay for the books through Amazon.de.

"We see the firm as responsible for what they are selling," he said.

Hoeger said the company had refused to sell some books that did not fit its content criteria for their views on Nazism, but said they used the highest degree of caution and wanted to ensure that other titles that are worthy of discussion were available.

We see it as one of our most important tasks as a bookseller to offer our
customers access to the widest choice possible, she said. Therefore our
customers will also find titles in the future in which troublesome content regarding the Nazis is found - as they will find an extensive selection of titles in which the Nazis are sharply criticized and condemned.

Schoeler also conceded that even if banned on the German site, the books could be purchased elsewhere - like in the U.S. via Amazon.com - but said nothing could be done to stop that.

It is legal to purchase such books in the U.S., but it is not here, he
maintained.

The complaint was faxed Friday to prosecutors in Munich, where Amazon-Germany is based.

There was nobody available at the prosecutors' office to comment on the case, but such complaints usually take at least weeks to be evaluated before a decision is made whether to open an investigation
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  1.   Spot the difference 01:18  |  Eddy 25/07/09
  2.   F. Isreal 01:55  |  gern blansten 25/07/09
  3.   It is amazing that Jews so hate freedom of speech 04:08  |  American in NY 25/07/09
  4.   Complain complain complain 04:34  |  Johosafat 25/07/09
  5.   Free speech #1 04:48  |  carl 25/07/09
  6.   The best protection 05:03  |  EW 25/07/09
  7.   Should Nakba denial also be banned? 12:31  |  Aaron Aarons 25/07/09
  8.   Will they sue Israel for banning the word "Nakba". 14:57  |  Yancee 25/07/09
  9.   The proverbial fight against... 15:26  |  Dee 25/07/09
  10.   EW #5 15:30  |  Veritas 25/07/09
  11.   #2 american in NY 17:49  |  Chris Linthwaite 25/07/09
  12.   this is a waste of time 18:43  |  yael 25/07/09
  13.   EW # 5 Freedom of speech includes the freedom to not listen 00:43  |  American in NY 26/07/09
  14.   Carl # 4 You are confused. 00:53  |  American in NY 26/07/09
  15.   EW # 5 freedom of speech and freedom to not listen 04:28  |  American in NY 26/07/09
  16.   Free Speech 01:37  |  JAM 28/07/09
  17.   "kosher dictatorship over the mind of men" 18:04  |  Mike 28/07/09
  18.   Jews DO NOT hate free speech, #3 07:35  |  Shoshana Shapiro 13/08/09
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