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French court upholds decision in Georgia Tech Lorraine Internet case

The Appeals Court of Paris recently ruled to uphold the decision of the Tribunal de Police de Paris in a lawsuit against Georgia Tech Lorraine which alleged that the school's Web site http://www.georgiatech-metz.fr/ violated a French law forbidding the sale of "goods and services" in France in any single language other than French. The June 1997 ruling in the lower court favored Georgia Tech Lorraine, deciding that the plaintiffs had not followed proper legal procedures in bringing the lawsuit against the French campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The precedent setting case began in October 1996 when two French organizations-Défense de la Langue Française and Avenir de la Langue Française Defense de la Langue-filed suit against Georgia Tech Lorraine because its Web site was primarily in English. The two groups charged that the Web site violated the 1994 law, Loi Toubon, and sought to require that Georgia Tech Lorraine modify its Web site so that the information provided on the Internet and accessible in France be translated into French (the Web site is now available in French, English and German). However, as a point of law, Georgia Tech contends the Web site legally could be in English because all of its classes are taught in English by faculty from Georgia Tech.

"This case was about the regulation of the Internet and the increasingly global presence of the Web in commerce, in communication, and in culture. Georgia Tech Lorraine happened to be a visible target in this debate," said Hans B. (Teddy) Püttgen, director, Georgia Tech Lorraine. "While it is never pleasant to be the subject of a lawsuit," he said, "we hope that we have played and will continue to play some small role in helping people understand technology-and all of its ramifications-a little better. That is what Georgia Tech does best."


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