CompuServe Charged Under Anti-Porn Law

More than a year after raiding the German offices of CompuServe Inc., Bavarian prosecutors charged the online service’s German chief with being an accessory to the dissemination of pornography. In papers filed in state court in Munich, prosecutors charged that Felix Somm, as the U.S.-based company’s German representative, “knowingly” allowed pornographic images, including child pornography, to reach customers on Internet in 1995 and 1996. Prosecutors said CompuServe could have blocked the images through technical or organizational means. In a statement released at its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, CompuServe said the accusation against Somm “is entirely groundless.” German prosecutors searched CompuServe offices in December 1995 as part of an investigation into online pornography. CompuServe responded by blocking access to 200 electronic message boards for its 4 million users worldwide.