Sammelklage gegen koreanische Regierungsbehörden wegen ActiveX-Zwang

Die Diskussion hat Früchte getragen: statt wie empfohlen zu warten entschieden sich koreanische Internet-User, die kein Windows und oder kein Vista verwenden werden, die Zugänglichkeit der Webseiten einzuklagen. Bei Open Web auf unfix.net gibts einen informativen Artikel, „Korean Approach to Web Accessibility“. Daraus:

It all started from a brief circular posted at a web forum for Firefox users in Korea. It was pointed out that the government’s decision to run ‘MS optimized’ websites could probably raise Constitutional law issues. While it may not always be easy to put pressure on private website operators to switch to OS-independent, browser-independent webpages, it was argued that there could be legal means to force public bodies to do so.

This sparked a wildfire, as it were. The posting has been visited more than 4,000 times in two days. Such were the accumulated, collective grievances of Linux, Mac, Opera and Firefox users in Korea. The posting can be found here: http://forums.mozilla.or.kr/viewtopic.php?t=6767.

Thus a lawsuit against the government is being prepared. We shall seek the following rulings from the court:

1. that it is unlawful for a public body to operate browser-specific or OS-specific websites;
2. that the government’s decision to endorse MS optimized websites and web security applications is in violation of its treaty obligation under GATT/WTO as they create trade barriers to web browsers originating in other member countries of WTO, such as Norway; and
3. that, in view of the market condition and the prevalent web page designing practice in Korea, the government has a duty under Art. 3(1) of the Antitrust and Fair Trade Law and under Art. 4.1 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) to adopt and implement appropriate measures to encourage private entities to comply with international standards in internet engineering.

[Danke Niels!]