Germany in bid to ease wifi drought

Germany’s wifi crunch looks set to ease after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition agreed to remove legal quirks that have held providers of public hotspots liable for what users do online through their networks.

After months of wrangling over fine print, government parties yesterday agreed to change a law so that small-scale wifi operators won’t be sued when customers illegally download music or movies, Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led group in parliament said.

Instead, Germany will explore ways to “dry out” the revenue streams of illegal download portals, it said.