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Facebook Ordered To End Its Real Name Policy In Germany

Posted by Unknown on from the semi-anonymous-cowards dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a blow to Facebook's policy banning accounts under pseudonyms. From the article: "A German privacy regulator ordered Facebook to stop enforcing its real name policy because it violates a German law that gives users the right to use nicknames online. 'We believe the orders are without merit, a waste of German taxpayers' money and we will fight it vigorously,' a Facebook spokeswoman said in an emailed statement."

1 of 471 comments (clear)

  1. German Telemedia Act translation by rgbrenner · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.cgerli.org/fileadmin/user_upload/interne_Dokumente/Legislation/Telemedia_Act__TMA_.pdf

    The important section is 13.6:

    The service provider must enable the use of telemedia and payment for them to occur
    anonymously or via a pseudonym where this is technically possible and reasonable. The
    recipient of the service is to be informed about this possibility.

    (emphasis mine)

    Since it's obviously technically possible, Facebook will have to argue that it's unreasonable.