European Parliament brings contracts for digital content into the 21st century
Date
Sections
Brussels, 21 November 2017
The European Parliament’s committees for the internal market and legal affairs today backed proposals to update laws covering contracts for the supply of digital content.
S&D Group MEP and Parliament negotiator for the new proposals, Evelyne Gebhardt, said:
“Every day millions of Europeans enter into some form of contract for digital content. This might be downloading a song, a new app or even just signing up for the latest social media site. Often customers don’t even realise they are doing this as instead of giving money they are simply giving companies permission to use their data in exchange for a service. Our laws haven’t kept up with this changing reality, meaning that often consumers have less protection than when buying products offline. This directive is an important step forward that will help to harmonise rules across the EU. This will enhance consumer protection and will make it easier for businesses to trade across borders.”
“This law will make life easier for everyone accessing content online. It will ensure that customers are reimbursed quickly when content is not up to the required standard or does not match the given description. The burden of proving that content is of the required level will now be on suppliers for a longer period rather than consumers – making it easier and quicker for citizens to cancel a contract and get a refund.”
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