.de and legal restrictions for site content?

[StevenG]

Hi everyone, I had a random question I was hoping someone could help me with.

I have the domain hack NightmareMo.de that I was thinking of using for my personal blog about random stuff, some of the stuff being about video games.

My question though is, as a .de, are there restrictions on the content for what I can put on the site? For example, in Germany, video games are rather censored, and cannot contain certain images or themes or whatever. Here's an old, but relevant forum post about censorship out there: facepunch. com/showthread.php?t=1073706

Anyway, I might be posting art from games, or other stuff that might be either 18+ or gory or whatever. It's not like I'm running or porn site or anything, but there might be the random image in there every once in a while that someone would consider inappropriate for minors. It's really just going to be my personal blog though, I'm not really going to advertise it beyond having links to it on my own social media accounts.

My question then is, do I fall under Germany's laws or regulations because I would be using a .de for my domain? The site would be hosted in the USA (most likely), so where do I stand legally?

Thanks for all of the responses and insight

 

[namelancer]

What is the registrar's jurisdiction ?

 

[StevenG]

What is the registrar's jurisdiction ?

I believe I have it with GoDaddy, so it would be USA

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Are you sure that GoDaddy is accredited on .DE?
For some ccTLDs GD acts as reseller of Key Systems (RRPproxy.net)...

 

[HotKey]

My question then is, do I fall under Germany's laws or regulations because I would be using a .de for my domain? The site would be hosted in the USA (most likely), so where do I stand legally?

You need a phone number and street address in Germany to legally use a .de. If you don't have both, then all you need is for your registrar to have a trustee service to act as your local contact for your .de domain. Usually, there is an additional fee for this from your registrar.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Such trustee is provided by Hexonet.net, EuroDNS etc.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

+ you must include Imprint/Impressum for your .DE website...

 

[Kate]

My question though is, as a .de, are there restrictions on the content for what I can put on the site?

Best is to check the registry website (denic.de) for a start.

My question then is, do I fall under Germany's laws or regulations because I would be using a .de for my domain?

Countries have sovereignty over their own extensions, so they set their rules. Your registration can be revoked for lots of reasons, including technicalities.

The site would be hosted in the USA (most likely), so where do I stand legally?

Basically you have to be legally compliant vis-à-vis the two countries. For example, if you host copyrighted content, there is no need for legal action in Germany when you can just send a DMCA takedown notice to the US-based webhost, that is certainly subject to US law.

It just means that in this particular setup, two countries have possible jurisdiction over your online presence. A German who is offended by your site could get the local registry to intervene if you're doing something illegal in German law. An American will instead get in touch with Godaddy in the US, if this is where you're hosting, because it's easier. If what you're doing is illegal or simply objectionable to Godaddy (according to their own TOS), then they will not hesitate to kill your hosting, lock your account and possibly delete/freeze your domain. Germany won't even be involved.
You just have to upset nobody.

Disclaimer: this not qualified legal advice.

 

[StevenG]

Best is to check the registry website (denic.de) for a start.

Countries have sovereignty over their own extensions, so they set their rules. Your registration can be revoked for lots of reasons, including technicalities.

Basically you have to be legally compliant vis-à-vis the two countries. For example, if you host copyrighted content, there is no need for legal action in Germany when you can just send a DMCA takedown notice to the US-based webhost, that is certainly subject to US law.

It just means that in this particular setup, two countries have possible jurisdiction over your online presence. A German who is offended by your site could get the local registry to intervene if you're doing something illegal in German law. An American will instead get in touch with Godaddy in the US, if this is where you're hosting, because it's easier. If what you're doing is illegal or simply objectionable to Godaddy (according to their own TOS), then they will not hesitate to kill your hosting, lock your account and possibly delete/freeze your domain. Germany won't even be involved.
You just have to upset nobody.

Disclaimer: this not qualified legal advice.

Hey Kate, thank you for the detailed reply. As much as I do like this domain hack, I might not end up using it for this purpose then, if I have to jump through so many extra hoops and expose myself legally in different ways.

I'll keep looking into it, but your response is a good jumping off point for my research. Thanks again