Facts: The defendant Multimania displayed a Web site entitled "nsdap" with images, texts and symbols relating to the Nazi ideology. However Multimania immediately removed access to the Web site once it realized it. Thereafter Multimania also supervised the Web sites it hosted with a search engine and key words relating to usual illegal content found on the Internet. But as Multimania had not used the acronym "nsdap" for its search , this web site with the Nazi pages remained.
Complaint: the plaintiff Association complained that Multimania was liable of a crime under article R645-2 of the French Penal Code.
Holding: the Court did not find a violation by the defendant SA Multimania.
Reasoning: the hosting service provider has no obligation to
scrutinize in detail and in depth the Web sites it hosts. Multimania acted
reasonably and promptly given its competence and the technical means
available to detect illegal content. Finally, the court held that Multimania
was not liable.
