The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a closely watched 1st Amendment case between Yahoo! and two French civil rights groups on Jan. 12.

In 2000 a French court ordered the California-based company to remove links to Nazi memorabilia on its French and main sites because such material violates France's hate speech laws. The court further threatened to fine Yahoo! for every day it failed to comply with the ruling. Yahoo! immediately removed the paraphernalia from its French site.

Yahoo! sought a declaration as to whether the French court's ruling is enforceable in the U.S. If the court declared the ruling enforceable in the U.S., Yahoo! could have had to pay a $15 million fine. In a 6-5 decision, the 9th Circuit dismissed the suit with three judges in the majority deciding the U.S. federal court lacked jurisdiction. The other three judges in the majority cited that the case was premature because the plaintiffs had not yet attempted to collect the fine.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a closely watched 1st Amendment case between Yahoo! and two French civil rights groups on Jan. 12.

In 2000 a French court ordered the California-based company to remove links to Nazi memorabilia on its French and main sites because such material violates France's hate speech laws. The court further threatened to fine Yahoo! for every day it failed to comply with the ruling. Yahoo! immediately removed the paraphernalia from its French site.

Yahoo! sought a declaration as to whether the French court's ruling is enforceable in the U.S. If the court declared the ruling enforceable in the U.S., Yahoo! could have had to pay a $15 million fine. In a 6-5 decision, the 9th Circuit dismissed the suit with three judges in the majority deciding the U.S. federal court lacked jurisdiction. The other three judges in the majority cited that the case was premature because the plaintiffs had not yet attempted to collect the fine.