[rbehrends]

A major difference is that "Störerhaftung" is matter of civil liability only, not criminal liability. Moreover, "Störerhaftung" entitles the injured party only to injunctive relief, not to damages (unless, of course, you signed a cease and desist agreement, in which case contractual penalties may apply). "Haftung" (= liability) is thus a bit of a misnomer.

Moreover, the current German government is considering legislation to eliminate "Störerhaftung" with respect to unprotected WLAN access.

As for:

> ISPs are explicitly excluded from this and not held responsible.

This is not accurate. The "provider privilege" that ISPs enjoy in Germany only immunizes them against claims involving damages; injured parties can and do request injunctions based on "Störerhaftung" (whether such injunctive relief is granted is another story, especially when the desired injunction is ineffective). In fact, there have been cases where providers have been held to higher standards than private individuals because of their greater expertise (e.g., LG Hamburg 310 O 433/10 [1]). The details are still far from settled law, though.

[1] http://openjur.de/u/82969.html