Tech Industry Organisations call for changes to the Digital Content Directive

3 May 2017 02:47 PM

Joint letter identifies targeted amendments to ensure the EU Commission’s Digital Content Directive does not stifle innovation and damage economic growth.

In an open letter, techUK alongside EDiMA, BSA, ISFE, Developers Alliance, Digital Europe, COADEC, and other organisations, called for changes to the European Commission’s proposal for a Draft Directive on contracts for the online supply of digital content (DCD).

The Draft Directive as it currently stands risks the creation of legal uncertainty and unfeasible liability regimes, which could stifle the emergence of new online content and damage economic growth. Focusing specifically on the data issues following the publication of the EDPS opinion in March, the letter was circulated to Council attaches in time for the meeting of the Civil Law WP on Thursday 27 April.

In alignment with techUK’s identified five key recommendations to underpin targeted amendments to the European Commission’s Digital Content Directive, the substance of the letter calls for:

• That interference with EU data protection framework should be avoided;
• That the concept of data as a counter-performance should be removed;
• That extending the DCD to ‘other data’ provides no legal certainty or added value to the consumer; and
• That the scope and purpose of the DCD proposal should be adjusted.

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