Yahoo Getting Sued In Belgium For Withholding Data

• A court in Belgium, today found Internet company Yahoo guilty of withholding personal account information linked to Yahoo e-mail addresses in a cyber-criminal investigation. Belgian authorities subpoenaed detailed account data for a number of e-mail addresses used by a gang of alleged internet cons The court told the company to cough up a €55,000 fine right away and an additional €10,000 for each day it keeps refusing to hand over the user data. (or $69,197 and $12,590, respectively)

Here is Yahoo’s statement:

We strongly disagree with the court’s ruling and plan to file an immediate appeal.

Yahoo! Inc., a U.S. corporation, does not have business operations in Belgium and does not maintain the customer information at issue in Belgium. The United States and Belgium have a formal international treaty which the prosecutor should have followed to properly seek information from a U.S. company.

Yahoo! is not withholding information from the Belgium government. We have a legal and policy basis for not disclosing information in this type of case until the recognized international legal process is followed. We have raised this issue with the U.S. Government.

This decision could have negative implications for all foreign companies by unduly expanding the application of a law that should not apply to a company organized outside of Belgium and without a presence in Belgium.

Thanks Robin @ TechCrunch.

Tagged as: criminal case, withholding data, Yahoo