BAKGRUNN (fra Kommisjonens pressemelding, engelsk utgave)

A clean and open Internet: public consultation on procedures for dealing with illegal content on the Internet
On 4 June 2012, the European Commission is launching a public consultation on procedures for notifying and acting on illegal content hosted by online intermediaries. "Notice-and-action'' procedures begin when someone notifies a hosting service provider – for instance a social network, an e-commerce platform or a company that hosts websites – about illegal content on the internet. Such content could be, for example, racist content, child abuse content or 'phishing' websites (fake internet banking websites). The procedures are concluded when a hosting service provider acts against the alleged illegal content. European law (the "E-commerce Directive") provides a basis for the development of these procedures, but does not regulate them in detail. Stakeholders have indicated that these procedures should lead to a quicker takedown of illegal content, should better respect fundamental rights (in particular the freedom of expression) and should increase legal certainty for online intermediaries. The Commission wants to collect comments from all stakeholders on how this can best be achieved. The consultation will cover the issue of notification of illegal content: for example, should all hosting service providers put in place mechanisms to notify illegal content that are easy to find and easy to use? And if so, should illegal content be notified exclusively by such mechanisms? It will also cover the issue of acting on illegal content: for instance, should hosting service providers consult the providers of alleged illegal content? Should they provide feedback to notice providers? The deadline for sending contributions is 3 September 2012.

Communication on e-commerce and other online services:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0942:FIN:EN:PDF