Private individuals have only a very limited right to information vis-à-vis the operators of internet forums with regard to the names or addresses of users of these sites
One day, the owners of a car dealership discovered reports about themselves on an internet platform where people could exchange information about cars and post testimonials. They felt discredited by these reports and feared business-damaging effects.
They therefore immediately contacted the operator of the internet forum, who immediately removed the postings. In addition, the company demanded information about the contact details of the persons who had posted the reports in order to be able to take legal action against them.
The operator of the internet platform refused to do so, citing data protection. The owners of the car dealership saw this differently. At least according to the principles of good faith, they were entitled to such a claim. Moreover, the Telemedia Act allows the provision of information for the purpose of criminal prosecution. This provision was also applicable to private individuals.
However, the competent judge at the Munich District Court, before which the legal dispute finally came, dismissed the action for information:
As the organiser of an internet forum offering content services to users, the defendant was subject to the Telemedia Act. There, claims for information were expressly regulated, namely in § 14 II TMG. According to this provision, the service provider may, upon order of the competent authorities, provide information on inventory data in individual cases, insofar as this is necessary for the purposes of criminal prosecution, for the prevention of danger by the police authorities of the Länder, for the fulfilment of the statutory tasks of the federal and Länder authorities for the protection of the constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service or the Military Counter-Intelligence Service or the Federal Criminal Police Office in the context of its task to prevent threats of international terrorism or to enforce intellectual property rights. However, none of the requirements was fulfilled in the present case.
An analogous application of this provision was ruled out, as it was already clear from the law that such an extension was not possible. § Section 12 of the Telemedia Act (TMG) expressly provided that the service provider was only allowed to make data available for other purposes if another legal provision expressly related to telemedia permitted this or if the user consented. Such a legal provision did not exist in the present case. Therefore, the principle of good faith could not be invoked.
The claim for information was therefore to be rejected. Since the plaintiff could also avail herself of assistance from the public prosecutor's office if she had been insulted or defamed by the reports, she was not completely deprived of rights. She could obtain the desired data through a preliminary investigation.
Judgement of the AG Munich of 3.2.11, AZ 161 C 24062/10
Source: Press release of the Munich Local Court
Goldberg Attorneys at Law 2011
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
