Germany Forces Online Service to Censor Internet : Regulation: CompuServe reluctantly complies, cuts off access to 200 newsgroups deemed indecent.

In by far the largest case of mass censorship involving the Internet, German authorities have ordered the CompuServe online network to shut down access to more than 200 Internet newsgroups deemed indecent and offensive.

The case, the first involving government censorship of a commercial online service, provides a preview of the kinds of free-speech restrictions that some say could be imposed in the United States. Congress has inserted tough controls on indecent material on online services and the Internet as part of its telecommunications reform bill, which could be passed next month.

Due to the global nature of the Internet, any action by one government stands to affect users around the world. Although Germany acted out of domestic concerns, its order affected all 4 million CompuServe users in the United States and 146 other countries, not just those in Germany.

Germany’s actions also portend the difficult growing pains the Internet will experience as the far-reaching computer network finds its way into more and more homes and offices around the world. Governments feel responsible for protecting their citizens from the violent and indecent nature of some of the material on the network. Yet controlling such content will be difficult, given the diffused nature of the network and the easy access to it.

CompuServe Inc., which sees Europe as an important growth market, said Thursday it had suspended access to the newsgroups voluntarily in order to remain in compliance with German law. But the world’s No. 2 online service provider emphasized its distaste for its censorship role and called on Germany to pursue the providers of the offensive material rather than the services, which merely provide access to it.

For their part, CompuServe members around the world criticized, or “flamed,” the company for cutting off access to hundreds of newsgroups without so much as a warning or clear explanation.

Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office triggered the controversy last Friday when it ordered the Columbus, Ohio-based company, a unit of H&R; Block Inc., to close access to specific sites that violate German laws against child pornography and to other sexually explicit materials deemed harmful to minors and adults. Some of the banned sites may also deal with neo-Nazis, white supremacy and violence, CompuServe officials said.

The newsgroups--electronic conferences or bulletin boards devoted to specific subjects--are part of the Internet, and CompuServe has no control over their content. However, CompuServe said it complied with the government mandate by “temporarily suspending access” to the newsgroups in question.

Guardians of free speech on the Internet warned that the global computer network’s 40 million users could ultimately be affected if government restrictions on speech were to multiply, as some fear.

“We are seeing in Germany today what the implications could be if the Communications Decency Act is passed in the United States tomorrow,” said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. “That would be very troubling to a lot of online users.”

The Communications Decency Act of 1995 is part of the sweeping telecommunications reform bill that is stalled in Congress. It would make it a crime--punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000--to create and transmit “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent” materials on commercial online networks or the Internet. It is not clear whether an online service such as CompuServe could be punished for providing access to offending sites on the Internet.

In Germany, however, merely providing access to content that is illegal appears to be a crime in and of itself, said Russ Robinson, CompuServe’s director of public relations. The company is negotiating with German officials for a mutually beneficial way to resolve the matter.

“We are pushing ahead as fast as we can to restore access as quickly as possible,” Robinson said. “We do not want to be a censor. But we also don’t want to be suspended [from doing business in Germany]. We must abide by the laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.”

Robinson said representatives of the German prosecutor’s office raided CompuServe’s German headquarters in Munich in early December with a court order and a subpoena, and demanded to see 26 specific Internet newsgroups suspected of violating German decency laws. Last Friday the company was told to cease providing access to an expanded list of more than 200 newsgroups or face prosecution, he said.

CompuServe decided to go public with the news after fielding hundreds of queries from members asking why they could no longer access the affected newsgroups.

CompuServe had temporarily suspended access to newsgroups previously based on concerns about copyright violations. No commercial online service has ever been required to limit access because of a newsgroup’s content.

America Online and Microsoft Network--the world’s No. 1 and No. 4 online service providers--also provide Internet access in Germany but were not included in the latest action. Observers said they suspect that CompuServe was singled out because it is the largest service provider in Europe.

Officials at AOL and Microsoft said they were watching the matter carefully. Prodigy, the other major online service, does not operate in Europe.

“We’re at the center of this storm but this affects not only us but all the service providers and Internet users out there,” Robinson said.

While this is by far the broadest example of government censorship of the Internet, the first instance is believed to involve a Milpitas, Calif., couple who operated a pornographic electronic bulletin board, according to Shari Steele, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco watchdog group.

In July 1994, Robert and Carleen Thomas were convicted of conspiracy and interstate transport of obscenity for sending electronic pictures depicting bestiality to a postal worker in Memphis, Tenn., where the image was found to violate local standards of decency. The Thomases were sentenced to a combined total of 67 months in federal prison and were ordered to shut down their service.

But the CompuServe case is the first to involve a commercial online service with millions of subscribers scattered throughout the world. It is also unique because of its international nature and because CompuServe is being forced to act on the basis of content over which it has no control, Steele said. Her fear is that speech on the Internet will only be as free as the most restrictive country allows it to be.

“There are plenty of ways this could be applied that would be terrible for 1st Amendment principles on the Internet,” she said. “You should be worried that as any country starts imposing whatever kinds of limitations it wants to, CompuServe will be limiting what you have access to,” she said.

Robinson said CompuServe is working to develop software that would make it possible to limit access to the newsgroups in question only to members signing on from Germany but it could be months before it is ready for implementation.

CompuServe is also working on software that allows parents to restrict their children’s access to parts of CompuServe and the Internet, including newsgroups, he said. The company was planning to release the software in the spring but is now pushing to do so sooner.

But even with such controls, “there are a lot of awfully sophisticated hackers out there, and they may be able to find ways around anything we can put in place,” Robinson said.

Also, the information targeted by Germany can still be found by users with computer modems who have direct access to the Internet rather than through a commercial online service such as CompuServe.

On the network, some CompuServe members called for other users to flood the service’s customer service center with uncomplimentary electronic mail, while others pledged to boycott the service until full access to the newsgroups is restored. A few said they would cancel their CompuServe memberships.

“What will be CompuServe’s next move?” asked one member. “How about [censoring] the political forums? Once censorship starts, it will surely get out of hand.”