Wikipedia is under a censorship attack by a convicted murderer who is invoking Germany's privacy laws in a bid to remove references to his killing of a Bavarian actor in 1990.

Lawyers for Wolfgang Werle, of Erding, Germany, sent a cease-and-desist letter (.pdf) demanding removal of Werle's name from the Wikipedia entry on actor Walter Sedlmayr. The lawyers cite German court rulings that "have held that our client's name and likeness cannot be used anymore in publication regarding Mr. Sedlmayr's death."

German media have already ceased using Werle's full name regarding the attack. Jennifer Granick, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says German publications must also alter their online archives in a bid to comport with laws designed to provide offenders an avenue to "reintegrate back into society."

"It's not just censorship going forward. It's asking outlets to go back and change what is already being written," Granick said in a telephone interview.

It's not the first time Wikipedia, the world's most popular online, public-driven encyclopedia, has been targeted by would-be censors. And it likely won't be the last.

The site went offline overseas for a day in December, as British censors blacklisted it over an entry on the German rock band Scorpions. The entry included the cover art of the Scorpions' 1976 Virgin Killer album, which depicts a nude young girl.

Werle is suing Wikipedia in a Hamburg court to try and get it to comply with the German law.

"Our client has served 15 years of his life sentence for murdering Mr. Sedlmayr in 1990. He has been released on parole [sic] in August 2007. His rehabilitation and his future life outside the prison system is severely impacted by your unwillingness to anonymize any articles dealing with the murder of Mr. Sedlmayr with regard to our client's involvement," according to the Oct. 27 cease-and-desist letter, which demands legal fees and compensation for "emotional suffering."

Wikipedia did not respond for comment.

Granick said the First Amendment protects San Francisco-based Wikipedia. But it could find itself in the same position as Yahoo, which has been fined millions by a French court for allowing users to auction Nazi paraphernalia, which is illegal in France.

In that case, Yahoo asked the American courts to intervene. So far, the U.S. courts have refrained, because France has not moved to collect the fine.

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