Law Firm LEXTAL Attorney at Law Mari Männiko has published an article “Intermediary service providers’ liability exemptions- where can we draw the line?” in a book called ”Regulating Technologies in the European Union, Normative Realities and Trends” by Publishing house Springer.
The role of e-services has rapidly developed in recent years. Within these developments the role of internet service provider has changed from substance provider to neutral platform provider. The knowledge and control of the information available has changed from total control to no control at all. In many or we can even say in most of cases Intermediary service providers (ISP) is not aware of information available on their service platform and therefore cannot be held responsible in the case of the breach of any rights regarding substance of information.
This article analyses the conditions on which a service provider can expect the liability exceptions to be applied.
The interpretation of liability exceptions does not differ only in Member States but differ in high courts of Europe, namely in European Court of Justice (ECJ) and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Comparative analyses of the court reasoning show that the present legislation is too general and gives too much room for interpretation.
Liability exemptions should not be applicable only on grounds of neutrality. The author believes that notice-and-take-down principle should be implemented as a ground for exempting the liability.
This article focuses on need for common approach in European level as in present situation neither ISP- nor data subjects can find effective remedy to protect their interests.
By Mari Männiko