<nettime> Altern.org shut down

[geert lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

from thestandard.com's intelligencer europe:

LE MORT D'ALTERN: Altern.org, a French Web hosting service that's been in
operation since 1992, shut down in late June, leaving its 40,000 personal
sites out on the rue. The crushing blow, says Altern founder Valentin
Lacambre in a Liberation interview, came when the French government passed
a law holding Web hosting services legally liable for the content of their
users. The law, which took effect June 28, still has to pass the
constitutional tests of the French courts. But for the moment, Altern - a
favorite of activists across the globe - is calling itself the law's first
victim.  http://www.liberation.fr/quotidien/semaine/20000713jeuzf.html (in
French) 

Perhaps could someone in France (Christine?) explain what the motives of
Valentin and others have been to shut down altern.org.  Is a strong
statement to close an alternative network in France?  Did the police and
justice force altern.org or was it a thread which could be done at any
time? Where there also financial reasons to close the server? Can't
altern.org be hosted in another country, for example in Holland, Belgium,
Germany? Just some questions. Why play with the victim card? I wonder. Too
bad! 

ciao, geert




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