PARIS (Reuters) -
A French court ruled on Monday that a
popular Web site can no longer let pupils name and shame their
own teachers.
Following the example of successful U.S. sites, French
entrepreneurs created note2be in January that encouraged
students to grade teachers and discuss their ability.
Unions, backed by the education ministry, immediately took
the site to court, saying the personal comments represented a
breach of privacy and an "incitement to public disorder."
The judges backed their case and said the Web site could no
longer identify any teachers by name and told the site's owners
they faced a 1,000 euro ($1,517) fine for every infraction.
It also told them to pay a symbolic 1 euro fine and legal
fees for some 30 teachers who had taken part in the court case.
"This is an astonishing and surprising decision that has
worrying implications for the development of the Web," said
Stephane Cola, who co-founded the site.
"The ranking and evaluation of professionals on the Web is
a fundamental principle and a primary motor of the Internet
around the world," he told reporters after the verdict.
However, unions hailed the outcome.
"We are totally satisfied by this ruling," said Francis
Berguin, the head of the SNES teachers' union. "It is not up to
pupils to mark their own teachers and certainly not on a
commercial Web site," he told LCI news channel.
Education Minister Xavier Darcos praised the court verdict,
saying in a statement that he "totally supported teachers whose
difficult mission will not be the object of anonymous attacks
on the Internet."
The sometimes difficult working environment faced by
teachers in France was underlined last week when a court
sentenced a pupil to 13 years in jail after he stabbed and
wounded a teacher who had complained about his behavior.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Stephen Weeks)
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