DELFI AS v. ESTONIA JUDGMENT 5 17. Estonian state, led by scum [and] financed by scum, of course does not prevent or punish the antisocial acts of the scum. But well, each [L.] has his Michaelmas... and this cannot at all be compared to a ram’s Michaelmas. Actually sorry for [L.] – a human, after all... :D :D :D 18. ... if after such acts [L.] should all of a sudden happen to be on sick leave and also in case of the next destruction of the ice road... will he [then] dear to act like a pig for the third time? :) 19. fucking bastard, that [L.]... could have gone home with my baby soon... anyways his company cannot guarantee a normal ferry service and the prices are such that... real creep... a question arises whose pockets and mouths he has filled up with money so that he’s acting like a pig from year to year 20. can’t make bread from shit; and paper and internet stand everything; and just for own fun (really the state and [L.] do not care about the people’s opinion)... just for fun, with no greed for money – I pee into the [L.’s] ear and then I also shit onto his head. :)” 15. On the same day the offensive comments were removed by the applicant company. 16. On 23 March 2006 the applicant company responded to the request from L.’s lawyers. It informed L. that the comments had been removed under the notice-and-take-down obligation, and refused the claim for damages. C. Civil proceedings against the applicant company 17. On 13 April 2006 L. brought a civil suit with the Harju County Court against the applicant company. 18. At the hearing of 28 May 2007 the representatives of the applicant company submitted, inter alia, that in cases like the “Bronze Night” (public disorders related to the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument in April 2007) Delfi had removed 5,000-10,000 comments per day, also on its own initiative. 19. By a judgment of 25 June 2007 L.’s claim was dismissed. The County Court found that the applicant company’s responsibility was excluded under the Information Society Services Act (Infoühiskonna teenuse seadus), which was based on the Directive on Electronic Commerce (Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market). The court considered that the comment environment in the applicant company’s news portal was to be distinguished from the portal’s journalistic area. The administration of the former by the applicant company was essentially of a mechanical and passive nature. The applicant company could not be