Law no. 365/2002 on Electronic Commerce

Official Gazette no. 877 of 12.05.2001, Part 1
Document type
Legislation
Country
Ioana
Burtea

Articles 11 to 15 of the law outline the liability scheme for internet intermediaries. The law largely follows the European Union E-Commerce 'safe harbours' model, immunizing intermediaries when they act as a mere conduit or when they cache or host material. Intermediaries remain liable if they themselves are the originators of the information, if they modify the information or if they are aware of the infringing nature of the information. While there is no general monitoring duty imposed on intermediaries, once they are made aware of the infringing content they do have a duty to ‘rapidly’ remove it from their platform. Article 16 further provides that the legal remedy brought against these intermediaries is either a take-down or a blocking order (both temporary and permanent injunctive remedies are permitted).

The law differs from the EU model in two primary respects. The law does not use the term ‘internet intermediary’, instead identifying specific types of ‘service provider[s]’, suggesting a more nuanced view of the online environment. This enables the law to go further than the EU E-Commerce Directive. Specifically, Article 15 explicitly extends the internet intermediary liability protection to search engines which are not considered in the EU directive. Search engines are similarly liable if they fail to block illegal content once they have been made aware of it.

Country
Year
2002
Topic, claim, or defense
E-Commerce
Document type
Legislation
Issuing entity
Legislative Branch
Type of service provider
General or Non-Specified
Host (Including Social Networks)
Web Host (Technical Hosting)
Search Engine or Index
Cache Provider
Issues addressed
Trigger for OSP obligations
OSP obligation considered
Block or Remove
Type of liability
Primary
Injunctive
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Strengthens Immunity
General intermediary liability model
Takedown/Act Upon Knowledge (Includes Notice and Takedown)