Some more info on the TV spot and the issue:
1. You can see the ad by going to the following website:
http://www.burks.de/sound/sorry.mp4
The APPD (Anarchist Pogo Party Deutschland) website is www.appd.de 
Note: German language skills may help!
The controversial  material is actually quite brief and only a small
proportion of the ad.

2. Technically, the APPD does not receive public funds as such; to do
so a party in Germany must obtain .5 percent of the vote, and this party
has not yet done so---unless of course this ad puts them over the top on
Sunday (the election)! The party apparently only has 750 members.

3. The APPD does get limited free air time on the public stations,
which you can consider equivalent to public funds if you wish, but it's
not cash to spend. They only get a few slots for their ad, maybe less
than 5 total showings. Parties in Germany cannot buy air time on the
public stations. To get more showings they would have to buy time on the
private stations; they aren't required to give political ads free time,
but they can sell it.

4. When the APPD wanted to air this spot, the public stations (ARD and
ZDF) objected. ARD was forced to run the ad by a court order, but ZDF
persuaded a different court (the two stations are located in different
German States, so different courts) it didn't have to air the ad. Thanks
to Prof Dr. Dr. Christina Holtz-Bacha of the University of Nuremburg for
this info.
Best,
Cliff

Clifford A. Jones, J.D., M.Phil., Ph.D.
University of Florida Levin College of Law
Center for Governmental Responsibility
Spessard L. Holland Law Center
230 Bruton-Geer Hall
P.O. Box 117629
Gainesville, FL 32611-7629
Tel. (352) 273-0845 (Direct)
Tel. (352) 273-0835 (Main)
Fax  (352) 392-1457
Email:  jonesca@law.ufl.edu

Home:
2230 N.W. 24th Avenue
Gainesville, FL  32605
Tel. (352) 367-9992
Fax  (352) 367-9456

"Lowenstein, Daniel" <lowenstein@law.ucla.edu> 9/9/2005 6:07:38 PM

      I have been and am a supporter of public financing,
notwithstanding the many difficulties in designing a system that is
likely to work well, in line with my general view that anything that
makes it easier for politicians to raise money is presumptively good. 
But there are problems, and one of them is illustrated by this Reuters
article about how one party in Germany is using public funds.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050907/od_nm/germany_anarchists_dc_1

 
 
          Best,
 
          Daniel Lowenstein
          UCLA Law School
          405 Hilgard
          Los Angeles, California 90095-1476
          310-825-5148