4. 2. 1 Price comparison websites...63 4. 2. 2 Restrictions on advertising...64 4. 2. 3 Unfair commercial practices...
services. 11 Online retailing, online press, search engines, social networks, blogs, media streaming, online gambling and e-health are included in our analysis. The main focus
internet et dans le commerce traditionnel, Juin 2009; available at http://www. fevad. com/uploads/files/Prez/fevad estia 110609. pdf
and sales orders made via websites or systems of electronic data interchange, excluding manually typed e-mails
information, communicating via social networks, etc..Electronic commerce continues to grow substantially, even in the current economic crisis.
internet users made purchases online, while 94%did in South korea. 16 This compares with 57%in the EU. 17 However, the growth rate of electronic commerce is now higher in the EU
Internet Usage in 2010 †Households and Individuals, 14.12.2010 available at http://epp. eurostat. ec. europa. eu/portal/page/portal/product details/publication?
From a wider perspective, the internet economy has generated 21%of the GDP growth of the
Internet consumption and expenditure already exceeds the share of GDP of agriculture or energy, and its GDP is bigger than the GDP of Canada or Spain. 23 It
linked to electronic commerce in the United kingdom. The"Internet stream "(which is wider than ISS because it includes telecoms) has accounted for 25%of net job creation and growth
22 Mckinsey Global Institute, Internet matters: The net's sweeping impact on growth, jobs, and prosperity
from Madrid to Moscow, the Internet is going native, September 2011, available at: http://www. bcg. com/documents/file84709. pdf
24 How the Internet is transforming the economy, a series of studies by the Boston Consulting Group
commissioned by Google, 2010-2011; Mckinsey & Company, Impact d'Internet sur l'à conomie franã§aise
March 2011, available at: http://www. economie. gouv. fr/files/rapport-mckinsey-company. pdf 8
in France since 2000.25 Overall, the Internet economy creates 2. 6 jobs for every job
from Madrid to Moscow, the Internet is going native, September 2011, available at: http://www. bcg. com/documents/file84709. pdf
Internet, generally to the customer's home. 38 Recent case-law of the ECJ confirms the broad principles underlying the Internal Market
lenses via the Internet falls, in principle, within the coordinated field of the ECD. In the edata
country of origin of the web trader can have major consequences, for example, for their right of withdrawal.
If the web trader is established in a non-EEA country, the provisions of the ECD do not apply45
the recipients of the service can contact the service provider via the internet, to whom the
themselves to offering an e-mail address accessible for their customers through the website They must also provide for other forms of direct communication. 47
Bundesverband ev v deutsche internet versicherung AG, ECR 2008 I-07841, judgment of 16.10.2008 available at:
Article 5 (2) obliges web traders, where information society services refer to prices, to provide a clear and unambiguous indication of the prices,
on the Internet. It obliges the Member States to ensure that online commercial communications (including promotional offers, discounts, premiums, promotional
allow an internet user to enter the e-mail address of one or more"friends"who then receive a
standard message e g. inviting them to visit a particular website. Whether a message is "commercial"or not leaves room for divergent interpretations as well
Case C-324/09, L'Orã al v ebay, judgment of 12 july 2011, par. 95-96, available at
the use of email (including sms, mms), automatic calling machines and requires prior opt-in
combination with the increasing use of the Internet by regulated professions may require that these codes be updated
welcome the opportunity to learn more about the experiences of both internet consumers and online businesses in respect to the process of placing orders.
sure that businesses adapt their websites. On the other hand, respondents to the e-commerce consultation expressed concerns that the contracting requirements of the ECD may have been
regime of internet intermediaries are required to increase its impact 65 Directive 1999/93/EC of the European parliament and of the Council of 13 december 1999 on a Community
but provided for free on the Internet are even more difficult to assess. Eurostat conducts surveys to measure the extent to which
businesses and households use the Internet, applying such indicators as the percentage of users who bought online in a given period of time.
measuring the value of the Internet including services provided via the Internet The Commission services will,
more detailed statistics about internet sales volumes 3. 2 Need for better co-operation in the application and
in Member State A considers that the website of an online trader established in Member State
Many cases concern websites which give incomplete information such as failing to indicate all the taxes and costs included in a price.
Other cases concern websites where the trader's identity, location and VAT-numbers were missing,
available on the e-commerce website of DG MARKT. 79 National websites contain general 78 Report from the Commission to the European parliament and of the Council on the application of
both screen a sample of websites in a given sector for compliance with EU consumer
standards,(2) develop the exchange of best practices through a common website and (3 develop tools and techniques to identify emerging online threats for consumers
By way of example, a major video-sharing site reported that more than 24 hours of video are uploaded on its site every minute. 83 Checking
all videos that are uploaded from possibly illegal sites would be too heavy a burden to
liability exceptions, offering a video-sharing site would probably be too great a commercial risk.
"83 Google contribution to the public consultation on the future of electronic commerce in the internal market
This could include, for example, sites containing infringements of intellectual property rights (such as trademark or copyright infringements), but also sites containing child pornography, racist and xenophobic content
defamation, incitements to terrorism or violence in general, illegal gambling offers, illegal pharmaceutical offers, fake banking services (phishing), data protection infringements, illicit
The ECJ ebay vs. l'Orã al judgment in case C-324/09 confirms that awareness in the sense of Article 14 can be obtained through a"notice"that is sent to an
emerged that the legislators could not have foreseen, such as video-sharing sites, selling platforms, social networks and peer-2-peer services.
This section provides an overview of the interpretations that have been given to the definition of activities listed in Articles 12 to 14 of
85 Joined cases C-236/08 to C-238/08, Google vs. LVMH, judgment of 23.03.2010, for instance par. 113
video sharing sites, social networks and search engines, favoured the inclusion of those activities within the"safe harbour"regime
reasoning ruled that a hyperlinking website was a mere conduit activity that could benefit from the liability exemption of Article 12 ECD
Google Inc.)stated that the Dirwarn-Font not found: Couriernew ective was not relevant for the liability of a news search service because
Similarly, there is divergent national case law on video-sharing sites •French case law recently confirmed that video-sharing sites can benefit from the
liability exemption for hosting activities, for instance in the Magdane vs. Dailymotion case. 89 The fact that Dailymotion received advertisement revenues was irrelevant in
however, the Hamburg Court held (in Peterson v Google Inc and others90) that a video sharing site for videos uploaded by third parties cannot benefit
86 Crown Court, Gloucester, 06.02.2010, ref. no. T20097013, available at http://merlin. obs. coe. int/iris/2010/4/article26. en. html
The court ruled that Youtube could not benefit from a liability exemption for hosting providers as, for the following reasons, it would have adopted uploaded third party
o Youtube provides a specific layout of the website and Youtube's logo is shown in rather big letters above the playing video
o Youtube provides links to related videos o Youtube displays commercial video clips and not only content that
expresses a personal opinion o Because of the arrangement of the website the average user cannot tell at
first sight that the videos were uploaded by the user and not by Youtube o The homepage of Youtube suggests that Youtube exercises editorial
control as it suggests certain videos o Youtube actively connects advertisements to uploaded videos o Youtube's Terms and Conditions indicate that Youtube can use the
content uploaded on its site as its own content •In Italy the Civil Court of Rome (RTI and others vs.
Youtube and others) 91 also considered that a video-sharing site could not benefit from a liability exemption
The court stated that Youtube was not to be regarded as a hosting provider but as
a"digital broadcaster"and was considered consequently fully responsible for the published content. Youtube would play an active role
and would not limit its activities to providing server space for users to independently upload and organise
content The case law on online selling platforms is fragmented also •The Paris Commercial Court considered that ebay might not benefit from a liability
exemption for its hosting activities. 92 The court considered that the sellers on ebay's
website (recipients of ebay's services in terms of the E-commerce Directive) act under the authority or the control of ebay (the provider of an information society service in
terms of the E-commerce Directive), in which case, in accordance with Article 14 (2 of the Directive, the liability exemption for hosting activities does not apply.
The court came to this conclusion because ebay plays an active role in promoting sales with the
objective of increasing profits by, for instance, appointing sales managers, creating online"boutiques"and offering the option of becoming a"power seller
"•In the L†Orã al vs. ebay case93 the Paris Civil Court considered that ebay could offer
its clients various services on the same site without losing the right to benefit from a
liability exemption. However, only some of ebay†s activities are covered by the definition of hosting of Article 14 of the E-commerce Directive and eligible for the
liability exemption (for instance ebay's selection of"daily deals"could not be covered 91 Appeal Panel Decision of Civil Court of Rome, IP specialist section, 22.02.2010,
and Court of Rome 15.12.2009, Section IX, RG n. 54218/08, available at: http://www. scribd. com/doc/38060158/Ordinanza
-Tribunale-di-Roma-16-dicembre-2009-RTI-vs-Youtube 92 Paris Commercial Court, 30.06.2008; available at:
•In the ebay vs. Maceo case94, the Paris Civil Court considered that ebay†s activities
That ebay receives revenues related to sales carried out on its website was considered irrelevant in this context. In this case, it was
considered that ebay was not an editor as it could not be proven that ebay checks the
messages that users post on the site. The fact that ebay has designed the architecture and structure of its site and that it has developed systems for organising and ranking
the content on its site is not sufficient to conclude that it cannot benefit from the
hosting liability exemption •The UK High court in L'oreal vs. ebay95 considered, without any further reasoning
that ebay†s activities could not be covered by Article 14 of the ECD because its
activities would go far beyond the mere passive storage of information provided by third parties. EBAY actively organises
and participates in the processing and use of this information. The UK High court has decided not yet on the hosting status of ebay as
it requested guidance from the European Court of Justice (see the judgement referred to in Chapters 3. 4. 2. 2 and 3. 4. 3. 1
Similarly fragmented case law exists in relation to blogs, discussion fora and social networks. For example •Usenet (a system in which users post messages to a newsgroup) was considered a
caching provider by the German Regional Court of Munich96 because information was mirrored and stored on its service for about 30 days
Usenet newsgroups (in the case Bunt v Tilley. 97 •The High court of England and Wales (Kaschke v. Gray Hilton) 98 refused to apply the
liability exemption for hosting to a blog owner, even for those parts posted by third
exercised some editorial control on parts of the website •The Paris Court of First Instance99 refused to recognise a content aggregator
displaying on its website links posted by third parties as a hosting provider because the owner had played an active role in how the links should be classified and presented
social network service Myspace was not offering a hosting activity and therefore 94 Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI), 26.10.2010;
http://medien-internet-und -recht. de/pdf/vt mir dok. 155-2007. pdf 97 Queen's Bench Division, 10.03.2006,2006 EWHC 407 (QB;
the site allowed the classification and structuring of certain information provided by users did not imply an editing activity.
to follow from the fact that the site did not offer a possibility to check the information
on certain websites referred to in users'posts National jurisprudence on file sharing services also diverges.
The first case concerned Google's paid referencing service,"Adwords, "and its liability for infringements of trademarks held by The french luxury group LVMH,
an economic operator to display advertising links to its site accompanied by a commercial message that appears on the right hand side of the screen
104 Joined cases C-236/08 to C-238/08, Google vs. LVMH, judgment of 23.03.2010; available at:
through Google's search engine. These advertisement links appear whenever a"keyword"that can be reserved by an economic operator corresponds to the word (s) entered as a request in
"Louis vuitton")and that Google had prevented not them from doing so. The french Cour de Cassation asked the ECJ
Google) could be held liable for this The ECJ in this case refers to recital 42 in the preamble of the Directive to conclude that an
In analysing the Google"Adwords"service, the ECJ notes that"with the help of software it
has developed, Google processes the data entered by advertisers and the resulting display of the ads is made under conditions which Google controls.
Thus, Google determines the order of display according to, inter alia, the remuneration paid by the advertisement"(paragraph
116). ) However, the ECJ considers that to examine Google's activity in the light of recital 42
"the role played by Google in the drafting of the commercial message which accompanies the advertisement link or in the establishment or selection of keywords is relevant"(paragraph
118, underlining added The second ruling from the ECJ on the liability exemption regime concerns ebay and L'Orã al
In its ruling of 12 july 2011 In case C-324/09 (see also Chapters 3. 4. 2. 1 and 3. 4. 3. 1) the ECJ
whether the selling platform ebay could be held liable for trademark infringements committed (and possibly to be committed) through its site.
In order to attract new customers to its website, ebay had bought keywords, including trademarks held by L'Orã al, from paid internet referencing services (such as Google's"Adwords".
"In parallel to this, L'Orã al had identified several infringements of its trademarks through/by the selling
platform ebay. The question posed to the ECJ was to what extent ebay could benefit from the
exemption of liability on account of"hosting "The ECJ first confirms that an online selling platform in principle offers an information
society service and therefore is covered by the E-commerce Directive. The ECJ argues that, in order to define
whether such a service is also an intermediary service in the sense of Article 14 of the Directive, one should
4 of Chapter II of that directive (see Google France and Google, paragraph 112 "Paragraphs 110-112
those data (Google France and Google, paragraphs 114 and 120".("Paragraph 113 "the mere fact that the operator of an online marketplace stores offers for sale on its
provided for by Directive 2000/31 (see, by analogy, Google France and Google, paragraph 116 Where, by contrast, the operator has provided assistance which entails, in particular
The ECJ suggested that Ebay would potentially in some instances not have such a neutral
"In some cases, ebay also provides assistance intended to optimise or promote certain offers for sale"(paragraph 114
instance, has a"general awareness"that its site hosts illegal information The first interpretation is defended commonly by civil organisations in defence of, in
their sites and that this constitutes actual knowledge. ISPS that advertise the possibility of downloading music and videos of the consumer's choice would for instance have this form of
political party by a third party was considered manifestly illegal because the website of the third party was almost identical to the website of the political party, but
contained hyperlinks to racist content, meaning it could tarnish the reputation of the political party if internet users confused the two websites. 105 Also,
defamation has been considered manifestly illegal in some instances. 106 By contrast, infringements relating to advertising
A host of a website containing hyperlinks leading to to child pornography was attributed knowledge of these illegal hyperlinks
Youtube LLC. 117 Some stakeholders, in particular intermediaries, therefore suggested that the Commission should propose a so-called"Good samaritan clause".
In case C-324/09, L'Orã al vs. ebay (see also Chapters 3. 4. 2. 1 and 3. 4. 2. 2) the referring court
whether ebay was aware of facts and circumstances from which the illegal activity was apparent:
whether ebay provides such assistance but it already indicated that"in some cases"(without further specification) ebay
does play such an active role. The ECJ does not elaborate explicitly on how a hosting service
Google case. The AG claims to"have some difficulties"with the conclusion of the Court
For instance, traffic management by internet providers (see Chapter 4. 3. 4 on net neutrality) could, according to some stakeholders, be interpreted as selecting or
123 See in particular Chapter 3. 4. 3. 1 on"actual knowledge"and the ebay vs L'Orã al case
obtain the blocking of access by internet users in their territory and the removal of internet
combat â€oeinfringements of IPR via the internet more effectively"by"tackling the infringements at their
•In December 2009 several French internet platforms and right holders agreed on a charter for the fight against the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet. 129 An
extension of this charter is currently being discussed. 130 Recently, a number of voluntary codes have been developed at EU level
social networks with the objective of ensuring the safety of minors online. 131 •On 4 may 2011 a representative group of right holders and internet platforms signed
under the auspices of the Commission, a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at reducing the sale of counterfeits via e-commerce platforms.
counterfeit goods from being listed on internet platforms. 132 •A similar EU level dialogue on online piracy (copyright infringements) was launched
129 See Charte de lutte contre la contrefaã§on sur Internet http://www. minefe. gouv. fr/actus/pdf/091216charteinternet. pdf
http://ec. europa. eu/information society/activities/social networking/docs/sn principles. pdf 132 See: http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/iprenforcement/docs/memorandum 04052011 en. pdf
133 The website www. chillingeffects. org, an initiative from several US law faculties and some NGOS, reports on
review of such decisions, the tracking of its source and identification of the web hosting provider and, in particular, the notification to the competent authorities.
Investigation to compile a black list containing child pornography websites, on the basis of which ISPS have to block access to those websites
•The Hungarian Act on certain aspects of e-commerce and information society services transposing the E-commerce Directive) provides for a notice-and-takedown for mere
forced to block access to copyright-infringing websites •The UK Terrorism act provides a specific procedure for terrorism-related
blogs) applies to several categories of illegal content •The Italian law on child pornography through the internet establishes a blocking
mechanism for child abuse content •The french Law on the performance of internal security also puts in place a
where there is a financial gain involved in the takedown (for instance phishing websites. A majority of the respondents to the consultation proposed a European notice-and-takedown
refuse to use the NTD procedure proposed by a particular site and provide information in a
University136 demonstrates that the average time before takedown of child pornography sites is much longer than the time before takedown of phishing sites
d) Liability for providing wrongful notices or for taking down or blocking legal content NTD procedures do not exclude a risk that wrongful notices are provided to intermediaries (in
operators judging the legality of information on the Internet represented"private judges "They believed it would not be legitimate
blocking would not be a solution to the existence of illegal information on the Internet
accessible and legal services on the Internet. Moreover, some intermediaries, in particular video-sharing sites, argue that right holders should favour"monetisation"over takedown
"Monetisation"involves receiving a share of advertisement revenues that can be attributed to content to which they hold the rights
The cross-border nature of the Internet, the existing fragmentation of NTD systems, the lack
•Contribute to combating illegality on the Internet •Ensure the transparency, effectiveness, proportionality and fundamental rights
Stakeholders to be consulted include Member States, internet intermediaries, right holders, child protection organisations, civil rights organisations and citizens in general
and includes also"blocking"of websites 47 procedures; the consequences of submitting wrong notices; the instruments for removing or
In the L'Orã al vs. ebay case138 the European Court of Justice accepts, in principle, the
138 Case C-324/09, L'Orã al v ebay, judgment of 12 july 2011, par. 141, available at
A similar case, on the compatibility of such a filtering obligation for a social network, is
•In a case concerning the Belgian collecting society SABAM and the internet service provider Tiscali141 (now Scarlet) a judge on 29 june 2007 ordered Tiscali to use a
•In a case concerning Rolex, Ricardo and ebay, two online selling platforms, the Bundesgerichtshof142 (the German Federal Supreme court) considered that an
•In France, in a ruling of 13 may 2009 in a case concerning ebay and L'oreal, 143 the
Court refused to oblige ebay to implement filtering software for its"health and beauty section"to prevent infringements of L'Orã al's trademark.
filtering software was not necessary as ebay had made the required efforts to prevent trademark infringements, suggesting that to some extent there is an obligation of
Video hosting sites have, for instance, voluntarily and in cooperation with right holders, developed so-called fingerprinting techniques that identify the unique hash code
seriously harmful content and to identify a user†s real location and IP ADDRESS A variety of stakeholders raised concerns about significant traffic speed reductions as a result
interoperability between these techniques for different video sharing sites would be a particular burden according to some right holders
the internet and as discussed above in the area of video and image content filtering
especially for retail websites 145 See in particular the Commission Communication"A Digital Agenda for Europe",COM (2010) 245 of
Millions of citizens publish photos, blogs and text about families, friends and colleagues on social networks such as Netlog, Linkedin
and Facebook, often without being aware of privacy policies. The use and exchange of personal data have become essential factors in the online economy. 150 Professional players are
aggregating massive amounts of data for professional use, in particular for behavioural advertising. 151 In situations where hosting services are requested to take down illegal material
Information is collected on an individual's web-browsing behavior, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made,
example, a user may often visit sport sites and thus be categorised in the"sports fan"segment.
smartphones or other devices connected to the internet Users should be able to know and control who is using their information, and how the
Directive, makes illegal under Article 13 (4) all commercial e-mails advertising websites without disclosing the identity of the sender on
Cookies are hidden information exchanged between an internet user and a web server, and are stored in a file on the user's hard disc.
Business representatives indicated in the public consultation that today's internet economy and in particular the transformation of the Internet from web 1. 0 to web 2. 0 have been
possible thanks to cookies. They argued that cookies do not store information such as IP addresses or personal information (names, addresses etc
ticking a box when visiting an internet website"."The Commission services understand this in their guidance document as follows
specific website content may still be made conditional on the well-informed acceptance of cookies or similar device,
advertisement, coupled with a website providing the user with information about how to switch off behaviourally targeted display ads from the company that the user signed up to.
The development of the Internet and the increased supply of online gambling services are posing challenges for the co-existence of differing regulatory models, illustrated by the
172 See the DG€ s website: http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/services/gambling en. htm 61
but an almost total absence of legal internet sales in some eastern European Member States
buying medicines online, with the result that they, often unconsciously, buy from illegal sites with all the attendant health risks
The Internet should not replace necessary face-to-face consultations with appropriate medical practitioners but internet services can provide quick and easy access to medicines in particular
for chronically ill people, less mobile citizens, the elderly, working people or inhabitants of rural areas.
Internet guarantees anonymity to users, allowing people to access advice or medicines that they may otherwise be reluctant to approach their pharmacists for in front of other customers
In the absence of developed legal markets, the Internet has, however, become dominated by illegal offers to which consumers (including the most vulnerable seeking"cheaper"solutions
requirements and the creation of an obligatory"trust mark"("common logo")for websites legally offering medicinal products on the Internet.
A"reciprocal link"between the common logo and a national register of legally-operating online sellers176 will allow verification of
requirements under which medicines are sold over the Internet, within the limits of the EU Treaty
necessary in this context, price comparison websites, restrictions on advertising, and unfair commercial practices should be tackled
4. 2. 1 Price comparison websites As outlined in the Staff Working Document"Bringing e-commerce benefits to consumers
In 2010, eight in ten online shoppers used a price comparison website to research their purchases,
comparison websites, only a low proportion of price comparison websites (17%)give customers the option of offers available from other Member States.
tested price comparison websites are available in more than one language179. As a result consumers often do not find out about cross-border offers
The performance of the tested price comparison websites was substandard in many aspects when it came to the provision of information.
Only one in two price comparison websites provided the full details of their business address. The situation with online retailers was
In 60%of tested price comparison websites, it was not clear whether retailers had to pay to
and most price comparison websites did not display the correct final price. Information provision on added costs was rather poor.
websites showed prices including VAT and other taxes, and delivery charges. Another worrying finding was that in more than half of trials,
service providers to create their own website in the hope that clients will find their business
and make a direct order online through their website. Second, online businesses such as newspapers, video sharing sites,
and commercial blogs offer content and services to consumers for free, earning revenue by selling advertising space on their sites to businesses
that intend to reach those customers. Third, online enterprises such as travel planning sites sell both advertising space and their (own) services directly to consumers
In all those business models, the use of search engines has become widespread. Customers rely increasingly on search engines to find their preferred product or service.
Search engines charge advertisers on a pay-per-click basis. The trend is towards direct-response type
product purchased on the internet, by phone or post without paying a penalty. This"cooling-off"period
a particular form of advertising such as advertising over the Internet. 184 It has also been
and behavioural targeting has sometimes been perceived as excessive by internet companies The Commission services will continue to monitor
Directive also apply to new services such as the online social networks 183 See recently for example the Ker-Optika judgment, Case C-108/09
available on websites is fair and that it does not confuse consumers. In order to ensure that
•the web page www. isitfair. eu contains practical information for consumers on how to check if they have fallen victim to an unfair commercial practice,
provisions (websites selling airlines tickets, online mobile phone services, websites selling consumer electronic goods •on 3 december 2009 the Commission published detailed guidelines aiming to provide
internet users and consumers explaining the digital rights and obligations provided for by EU law in the form of frequently asked questions
There is a growing tendency for businesses to use the Internet to foster the sales of their goods
and services by exploiting the global availability of their websites. However, most online traders still serve a very limited number of Member States.
confronted with refusals of online web shops to deliver if they are not residing in the same
most frequent cases concern web shops that either refuse to sell items or services to residents
It is not unusual that websites automatically route the consumer to another website which corresponds to their country of residence,
enabling the web shop to maintain different price policies based on national borders. Consumer transactions may also fail at the stage of revealing credit card details due to the address of the
owner. Complaints received by the Commission and the European Consumer Centres indicate that such practices exist for a wide range of services such as the sale of electronic goods
textiles, bikes, DIY goods, music downloads, rental cars, mobile phone contracts etc Article 20 (2) of the Services Directive189 prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality
Globally operating internet companies therefore usually choose to have their country specific sites with a TLD of the country in question.
Businesses that register under a local domain name will very often also be ranked higher when their
which the Internet should be neutral, open and easily accessible. This principle is not always compatible with the practice of"traffic
management"generally used by internet providers. A recent Commission consultation on net neutrality and the open Internet192, shows a consensus of opinion on the necessity of having a
however, also be misused by internet providers to prevent access to information society services, in particular when they are competing with the services of the
internet provider (such as telephony or television services. This can be done either by blocking certain services outright or by making it very unattractive to access them, usually by
The Commission Communication on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe193 reports several instances of blocking of legal services (in particular of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol
services by mobile internet providers), but stresses that more exhaustive evidence is needed before policy conclusions can be drawn at the European level.
The Communication furthermore recalls that the Commission reserves its right to assess under Articles 101 and
Committee and the Committee of Regions, The open internet and net neutrality in Europe, COM (2011) 222
The development of the Internet has meant the birth of a trade in goods and services that have
Equally, cultural and sporting events can be viewed on the Internet without having to go to a theatre or sports venue
Historically, music was the first digital content available on the Internet. Thanks to further technological development including the growth of broadband networks,
of counterfeit goods over the Internet can be reduced through voluntary measures involving the stakeholders most concerned by this phenomenon (right holders and
internet platforms. In this context, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by major internet platforms and right holders on 4 may 2011.203 Over the coming twelve
months, these stakeholders will review and measure progress under the auspices of the Commission services.
framework allowing more effective combating of IPR infringements via the Internet 7. Journalists are authors
publishers have over the use of their works on the Internet, in particular in view of the
whether this be on demand, Internet or satellite. The inadequacy of rules governing the provision of digital cultural goods,
Commission services closely monitor the information and internet sectors to ensure that market players comply with EU competition law
Similarly, on 20 november 2010 the Commission started investigations into Google following allegations of abuse of market dominance in the areas of online search, online
Commission probes allegations of antitrust violations by Google, IP/10/1624 30.1.2010, available at 77
within the application (instead of providing a link to a website where the commercial transaction is concluded),
anticompetitive restrictions to cross-border internet marketing and sales. 215 However, certain http://europa. eu/rapid/pressreleasesaction. do?
prohibiting authorised distributors from selling over the Internet. See also the recent judgement of the ECJ
French distributors to sell its products on the Internet is compatible with the (now) Article 101 TFEU and
and require quality standards for the use of an internet site to sell their products.
Internet allows distributors to reach different customers and different territories, certain restrictions on the use of the Internet by distributors are dealt with as hardcore restrictions.
In principle, every distributor must be allowed to use the Internet to sell products. For example any obligation on distributors to automatically reroute customers located outside their
territory, or to terminate consumers'transactions over the Internet if their credit card data reveal an address that is not within the distributor's territory,
are hardcore restrictions Similarly, any obligation that dissuades distributors from using the Internet, such as a limit to
the proportion of overall sales which a distributor can make over the Internet, or the requirement that a distributor pays a higher purchase price for units sold online than the same
considered that such a restriction infringes Article 101 (1) TFEU as it has an anti-competitive object, and
products, such as e-mail, social networks, music, films, e-books or e-learning services. Problems include incomplete or incomprehensible information, interrupted access to content and faulty products.
as they have to adapt their website to the legal requirements of every Member State they direct their activity to
when a website contains activities directed to consumers in other Member States (see Chapter 4. 7. 4
society services beyond retailing, for example, in the way sites can be referenced by search engines or how technologies can be slowed down or blocked.
as outlined in the recent Communication on Internet network neutrality. In the first half of 2012, it will report on its analysis of the implementation of the
ensure that new rules guarantee an open Internet (see also Chapter 4. 3. 4 4. 4. 3 E-signatures, e-identification and e-authentication
and open to all communication channels, including the Internet and mobile communications As a first step a public consultation on e-identification, e-authentication and e-signatures was
internet and mobile payments"."The Green Paper aims to assess a number of specific factors
internet and mobile payments and the Green Paper provides the basis for a public consultation
On 11 january 2012, the Commission has adopted a Green Paper on card payments, internet and mobile payments. 244
Internet usage in 2009-Households and Individuals available at http://epp. eurostat. ec. europa. eu/portal/page/portal/product details/publication?
Internet usage in 2009-Households and Individuals, available at http://epp. eurostat. ec. europa. eu/portal/page/portal/product details/publication?
because the Internet continues to be perceived as a risk area generating potential disputes which cannot be solved easily partly because of the nature of
and ADR schemes communicate during the whole procedure through a web-based system in order to resolve disputes.
disputes for transactions between businesses and consumers taking place over the Internet. Its partners which include universities,
Internet purchases continue to be the main source of consumer cross -border complaints making up 56%of all complaints addressed to the ECC-Net in 2010
The relevant forms were made not available on the premises or the websites of 41%of the courts visited.
internet actors are resident in two different Member States or even outside the EU Determining the competent court and the applicable law as well as the recognition and
services offered on the Internet In the cases of Hotel Alpenhof and Peter Pammer302, the basic question at issue was whether
the fact that the website of a business, on the basis of which a consumer entered into a
contract, can be viewed on the Internet is sufficient to justify the conclusion that an activity is
made by email, the address being provided on the hotel†s website which the consumer had viewed.
The consumer found fault with the hotel†s services and left without paying his bill.
Reederei Karl Schlã ter through a German travel agency specialising in the internet sale of voyages by freighter.
The European Court of Justice ruled that mere use of a website by a trader in order to engage
or when it pays a search engine operator for an internet referencing service in order to facilitate access to its site by consumers domiciled in those various Member States
Nevertheless, other less obvious items of evidence, if combined with one another, are also capable of demonstrating the existence of an activity"directed to"the Member State of the
Likewise, if the website permits consumers to use a language or a currency other than that generally used in the trader†s Member State, this can also constitute evidence
On the other hand, the mere mentioning on a website of the trader†s email address or geographical address,
whether it is apparent from the traders†websites and overall activity that they were envisaging
http://download. intel. com/pressroom/pdf/cdsvsdownloadsrelease. pdf 312 Marcelo Velã¡squez, A comparative study of the environmental impact of the online and offline movie rental
E-commerce and the Internet have an inherently global dimension, but rules on e-commerce are fragmented still very much both across Europe and worldwide.
internet et dans le commerce traditionnel, June 2009; available at http://www. fevad. com/uploads/files/Prez/fevad estia 110609. pdf
The Commission has also been involved in the discussions within the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on issues such as the sustainability and security of the Internet
Despite the usefulness of several multilateral dialogues on e-commerce, the Commission believes that e-commerce could benefit from intensifying multilateral dialogues
the WTO/GATS, OECD and the Internet Governance Forum 110 ANNEX I: TRANSPOSITION OF DIRECTIVE 2000/31/EC IN THE EUROPEAN
http://www. vvc. gov. lv/export/sites/default/LV/publikacijas/civillikums. pdf 5. Informä cijas sabiedrä bas pakalpojumu likums
http://www. legi-internet. ro/legislatie-itc/comert-electronic/legea-comertului -electronic/legea-nr-121-din-4-mai-2006-pentru-modificarea-i-completarea-legii
http://www. legi-internet. ro/index. php? id=22 132 3. Lege privind unele mä suri pentru asigurarea tranparenå£ei à n exercitarea
names, internet protocol addresses and destination addresses of the website -subject-matter of injury and description of
facts substantiating infringement -data necessary for identification of infringement -name, address or head office telephone number
-IP ADDRESS, port number, website protocol, or Unique infringement The ISP must be notified of the
decision of the Section and in case of non -compliance of the judicial order which authorizes
-the law of 12 may 2010 contains in its Article 61 a basis for filtering of illegal gambling sites
-the decree of 20 june 2009 lays down the basis for a public website for reporting cybercrime (notably child abuse content, financial crime and racist content
In the L'Orã al vs. ebay case the European Court of Justice accepts, in principle, the compatibility of effective and proportio
A similar case, on the compatibility of such a filtering obligation for a social network, is currently pending before the ECJ
4. 2. 1 Price comparison websites 4. 2. 2 Restrictions on advertising 4. 2. 3 Unfair commercial practices
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