Convicted German Murderer Wants His Conviction Erased From Wikipedia
from the bit-of-a-conflict... dept
EFF has the bizarre story of a convicted murderer in Germany who is demanding that Wikipedia censor all mentions of the guy's name. Apparently, he (and his lawyers) are using a part of German law that allows for the protection of "names and likenesses of private persons from unwanted publicity." However, as the EFF points out, he's not a private person. He became a very public person when he was tried and convicted (along with his half-brother) for killing Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr. Apparently, his lawyers are going after multiple service providers, trying to get the guy's name taken off the internet. The EFF points out that the press has published the two convicted murderers' names for Sedlmayr's death: Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber, and that this appears to be nothing more than an attempt to censor history across multiple borders.
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Filed Under: free speech, germany, murder
Companies: wikipedia
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Let me get this straight?
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Re: Let me get this straight?
Did you say this was Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber? Those killers of Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr?
Good to know.
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Please stop
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T-Shirts!
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Now some make use of it for their own advantage, reasoning that even bad news is advertising. However this guy presumably isn't trying to do that (unless he has an upcoming book deal) and so I can only assume that either he, or his lawyers, are idiots. Most likely neither understand the inevitable result of this kind of action.
Have to say that prior to this I had never heard of Walter Sedlmayr, let alone Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber who murdered him. I'll pop onto wikipedia later this evening and have a read... then possibly link to it on Facebook for anyone else who might be interested. Unless its all in German in which case I'll never think of him again.
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Don't stop until we're #1, guys!!
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Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr's Murderers Wolfgang Werle and Manfred Lauber
I think I hear Ms Streisand calling the convicted murderers Wolfgang Werle and Manfred Lauber, unfortunately she does not speak their language. I'm sure Walter Sedlmayer wouldn't appreicate Wolfgang Werle or Manfred Lauber trying to deny that they killed Walter Sedlmayer, if Walter Sedlmayer referred to himself in the third person, that is.
I'm glad that Techdirt has informed me of the convicted murderers Wolfgang Werle and Manfred Lauber having a Wikipedia page regarding them and their conviction for the murder of Walter Sedlmayer. Thank you Techdirt.
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Having said all that, do I think he should get his way? No, but that doesn't mean I don't understand his reasoning.
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Redrum...
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Okay
I won't mention Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber again...
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Re: Okay
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More unmentionables...
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I'm sorry, do you have a German law degree?
There are all kinds of laws about speech in other countries -- try talking about Nazis in Germany if you want an example.
You think that this is a dumb law (probably a good point) but don't pretend to give legal advice as to whether the person is covered by the law or not. Unless you got a German law degree when I wasn't looking, you simply don't know.
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Re: I'm sorry, do you have a German law degree?
You bring up mentioning the Nazis under Germany law, yet this applies only to glorifying the regime. You can of course mention "Nazis", otherwise history book publishers would be out of business.
I'm against censorship laws, they serve no good in the long run. It's a good thing they're being ridiculed and ignored on this site, as well as German websites!
Still, none of this will bring Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr from the dead, as he has been murdered by murderer Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber, also a murderer.
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That's odd. Why does anyone even care that we're mentioning Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber who murdered Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr?
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Good luck to the German authorities trying to remove all the publicity about Wolfgang Werle and his half-brother Manfred Lauber who murdered Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayr.
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Google promote button
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How's that again?
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Wolfgang Werle and Manfred Lauber were the killers, and Walter Sedlmayr was the one who got killed.
I hope that has cleared it up for you, there shouldn't be any more need for those names to be mentioned again. Especially as it is upsetting Wolfgang Werle. Not sure about Manfred Lauber, but we know Walter Sadlmayr is unable to give an opinion, due to having been murdered by Wolfgang Werle and Manfred Lauber.
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Unwanted Publicity?
But as long as Walter Sedlmayr stays dead, we should be allowed to call Wolfgang Werlé and his half brother Manfred Lauber murderers, right?
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They did it...now its public knowledge
There are several defenses for defamation torts that are spelled out through various United States articles. For example, the statements made my wikipedia are simply quoted from the case and they state what the court has decided to be true. Truth is one of the biggest defenses for defamation, thus there is no case.
There is no invasion of privacy as far as I'm concerned either, so that argument is also irrelevant. It is in the greater public interest that this information be available.
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Needless to say, that I would like to support death penalty...
Kind Regards
Bernard
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