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Duration: February 2010 - March 2011
Commissioned by:
European Commission
Authors:
M.B.M. Loos,
C. Mak (both
CSECL),
P.B. Hugenholtz,
N. Helberger and
L. Guibault
Summary:
The Centre for the Study of European Contract Law (CSECL) and the Institute
for Information Law (IVIR) have won a European tender for a joint research
project concerning ’the legal framework for digital content services
for consumers’. The project has been assigned by the Executive Agency
for Health and Consumers and will run for a period of approximately one year.
The funding amounts to 205.000 euro.
The consumption of digital content becomes an integral part of the daily
life of Europe’s digital consumers of all ages, professions and levels
of experience. More and more digital services serve consumers’ demand
for information, education, entertainment and communication: music downloads,
online gaming, online publishing and the purchase of e-books, subscription
to podcasts, webcast and streaming services, network sites like Facebook,
et cetera. However, what is the legal position of the digital consumer in
the event that anything goes wrong: videos that won’t play, eboks that
cannot be copied, pieces of music that collect personal information about
the consumer? The regulation of these services raises many questions. How
can consumer interests be protected on the market for online content services?
Are consumer protection rules regarding offline services equally applicable
to digital services online, or is there a need for additional (European)
legislation? With the help of a network of international national correspondents,
CSECL and IVIR researchers will draft a wide-ranging legal-comparative report
on the topic and will present policy recommendations of how to guarantee
consumers an adequate level of legal protection when purchasing digital services
online.
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