[ NNSquad ] New German Law Will Allow Free "Snippets" By Search Engines, But Uncertainty Remains

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

New German Law Will Allow Free "Snippets" By Search Engines, But Uncertainty Remains

http://j.mp/YLlX5A  (Search Engine Land)

    Holfelder replied that Google has a couple of heuristics to determine
    whether a certain page is provided by a press publisher. However, this
    law has no provisions for "honest mistakes". If Google failes to
    detect LSR content and does not receive prior permission to index such
    content, Google faces legal consequences. There is no such things as a
    "warning shot" or an obligation by the press publisher to proactively
    inform a search engine whether it things a certain page is LSR
    covered. This is the legal equivalent of a minefield.  Holfelder
    stated that a search engine would in this scenario tend towards
    overblocking in order to avoid a lawsuit for violating the LSR.

 - - -

Exactly.  The best way to avoid getting blown up in a minefield is not
to enter it.  That means German publishers are going to find
themselves in fewer search results.  Is this really what they want?
Probably not.  But it could be what they get, and it will be their own
doing.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
 - Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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