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Court Orders Wikipedia.de Blocked

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If you go do Wikipedia.de, which is how many Germans access the German version of Wikipedia, instead of forwarding to the German version of Wikipedia, you will find a legal notice which, translated into English says:

The county court of Luebeck (North Germany) has issued an order in the name of Lutz Heilmann, Member of Parliament (left party/post-communist) that the German Wikipedia (Wikimedia e.V.) must not allow linking its domain wikipedia.de to the Web site wikipedia.org, as long as the German language version of wikipedia.org makes certain statements.

Apparently, Lutz Heilmann, a Member of Parliament, obtained this court order because his Wikipedia entry stated that he had been a member of Stasi (the East German secret police), had threatened an ex-boyfriend, and had been involved in a business venture relating to pornography.

Since the court order, responding to increasing outrage across the internet, Mr Heilmann apologized for the legal action and stated that Wikipedia.de will soon be allowed to forward to its German version again.

Jeff Behrendt