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This Bill is meant to presumably replace the 2008 Act. Part VIII (Clauses 33-35) of the Bill deals with Intermediary Liability, and contains more expansive provisions than the current Act. Such provisions include an affirmation of the non-requirement to actively monitor electronic records, a procedure to deal with electronic records which give rise to liability, and the approval of a code of conduct or standard by the Minister. It is also anticipated that in the near future, the government will seek to establish Regulations pursuant to the parent legislation cited above, which will include provisions on the conduct of intermediaries.

Copyright law would be the legal basis for decisions regarding any case of Internet Service Providers’ (ISP) liability in Guatemala involving infringinment of moral or economic rights belonging to an author. In case of infringement, the rightholder may certainly hold liable the direct infringer uploading the protected materials, but it might also, according to Article 1645 of the Civil Code, establish judicial proceedings against the ISPs if the author can prove negligence or carelessness from their part.

Guatemala does not have any specific legislation regarding Internet Service Providers’ (ISP) liability. However, Guatemalan legislation regarding civil obligation establishes that any harm or damage caused by any person, must be compensated/repaired. Article 1645 of the Guatemalan Civil Code is used as reference for court cases and decisions: “Any person, who causes any damage or prejudice to another person, either intentionally, or by carelessness or negligence, is required to repair it, unless the damage or prejudice are caused by inexcusable negligence, or guilt of the victim, and is so proven.” Since there is no specific legislation regarding damages caused by Internet Service Providers, this article is the main legal source governing intermediary liability in Guatemala. If a user, or an owner of a domain warns the...

Holding online intermediaries of discussion forums as secondary publishers with liabilities imposed from outset, who also have the duties to monitor and take active actions when noticed of defamatory activities on their platform. Defendants were administrators, providers and managers of a website that hosted one of most popular Internet discussion forums in Hong Kong, known as the Golden Forum. Plaintiffs were publishers of the Oriental Press Groups, one of the most popular local newspapers. Three entries were posted in the defendants’ forum accusing plaintiffs dealing with money laundering, drug trafficking and bribery, etc. Defendants removed two entries with due notice but the last one was removed eight months after being informed. Lower court held the forum for not having duly removed this entry without reasonable...