A EUROPEAN COMMUNICATIONS BREAKDOWN?
ECJ ruling could be a headache for e-commerc
DownloadWeb-based businesses could be hit hard by increased costs and heavy administrative burdens following a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice ("ECJ"). In a referral from the German courts (Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbande - Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband eV v Deutsche Internet Versi- cherung AC, Case C-298/07), the ECJ held that a company may be required to provide more contact information than just its email address and postal address on its website. Many hoped that the case would clarify the position in relation to exactly how much information a business needs to display on its website under the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) (the "Directive") but instead it has muddied the waters further, to the extent that in most cases businesses will not be sure whether they have complied with the Directive or not. The decision, which has been greeted with consterna- tion by most online business, may significantly affect the way that most e-businesses are run
- Intermedia Issue:
- Vol 37, Issue 1
- Issue Date:
- March 2009
- Theme:
- Infrastructure and Spectrum: 5G and next generation networks
