Yahoo to Try Harder to Rid Postings of Hateful Material

January 3, 2001 - After months of pressure from human rights groups like
the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Yahoo said yesterday that it would try more
actively to keep hateful and violent material out of its auctions,
classified sections and shopping areas.

The program, which will employ human reviewers and software, signals a
shift in Yahoo's approach. Previously, the company did not actively monitor
what was posted on its site, and it removed material that was deemed
inappropriate or in violation of its policies only after such a posting was
brought to its attention by users or watchdog groups.

"We are being more proactive on the Yahoo side to really stamp out anything
in violation," said Brian Fitzgerald, senior producer for Yahoo Auctions.

The monitoring program, which takes effect next Wednesday, uses software
that automatically reviews information that sellers are trying to post on
the Yahoo Web site. If the software detects something in the submission
that appears to violate the company's standards, the seller will
immediately receive a message with links to Yahoo's terms of service. The
seller can then revise the listing or appeal to Yahoo's staff for human
review.

The policy change comes a month and a half after a French court ordered
Yahoo to pay fines of about $13,000 a day if the company did not install
technology that would shield French users from seeing Nazi-related
memorabilia on its auction site. French law prohibits the display of such
material, and e-commerce experts in the United States have expressed
concern over whether the case might set a precedent requiring American
Internet companies to comply with foreign laws.

After the ruling, Yahoo asked a federal court in the United States to
declare the French ruling out of bounds jurisdictionally and in violation
of the First Amendment.

Yesterday, Yahoo officials said the monitoring policy was not a response to
the French ruling. Rather, they said, the company was responding to users
who had requested a more active policy and to groups like the Wiesenthal
Center and the Anti-Defamation League, which have been in talks with Yahoo
throughout the year.

A month ago, Yahoo's auction site listed more than 1,000 items related to
the Ku Klux Klan or Nazism, including knives, robes and daggers.

Greg Wrenn, associate general counsel for Yahoo's international division,
added, however, that the monitoring program might have some bearing on
Yahoo's case with the French court. "I would hope that it would show to
them that we have thought about these issues in good faith," he said.

EBay, the giant auction site that competes with Yahoo, has experienced
similar public pressure. The company decided last spring to prohibit the
sale of Nazi or Klan items that are less than 50 years old, a policy that
leaves room for the sale of historical items.

Yahoo's new policy applies only to its commerce areas. Yahoo's online clubs
and home pages, which have also come under fire, will not be subject to the
monitoring program. "There we want to promote inclusiveness," Mr. Wrenn
said. "We don't want Yahoo deciding who can or cannot speak in public
debates."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, which is
based in Los Angeles, called the policy "an important step forward, if it
works." He added, however: "If it turns out to be effective on the commerce
stage, we'd like them to apply the same tripwire" to online clubs.

Yahoo also announced that, as of next Wednesday, it will require sellers to
pay a fee for listing an auction item; the fee will range from 20 cents to
$2.25, depending on the value of the item and its reserve price, if it has
one. Unlike many other auction sites, the company does not charge a closing
fee or take a percentage of final sales.

By LISA GUERNSEY
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/03/technology/03YAHO.html

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