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SCO Fined in Munich For Linux Claims
nordi writes "heise.de reports (in German) that SCO Germany has to pay a fine of 10,000 Euros (~10,800 US$) because they kept on saying that Linux contains stolen intellectual property of SCO. In May a German court had decided that SCO Germany must not continue making those claims." Yes, it's auf Deutsch, so break out babelfish.
They are not.
the civil law system of each country in the EU is seperated. There are only a few links between them when it comes to civil rights.
Most countries in Europe (not the EU. The Council of Europe is somehwat larger than the EU... And the continent Europe is larger than the council of europe..) have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. When the national way of procedure (Appeals, Revision, national supreme court) ends and you still think your human rights are violated, you are allowed to go to the Human Righs Court in Strasbourg (France).
This does not apply to the current SCO-case.
It might change in the future.
Although your post appears to be some kind of flamebait, you are dealing with valid points.
If Mr. Bremer (CEO of SCO GmbH in Germany) walks to the street and says "I personally believe that Linux is inviting the whole world to steal our code", it's okay.
The preliminary injunction only applies to the doings of SCO and its employees in business.
The short version (which omits many important points) is:
"The world sucks" --> nothing happens.
"SCO sucks" --> if you are a competitor of SCO, SCO might be able to request a preliminary injunction against this statement.
"You suck" --> under normal circumstances, "you" might be able to request a criminal investigation for insulting. Of course, there are situations where "you suck" might be justified.
Could you please specify why you think that there is a lack of freedom of speech in Germany in this case?
(personally, I agree to this article 130 of the German criminal law which makes it illegal to deny the murder of millions of people under the 3rd Reich)