On 19 July 2023, the Irish Government announced their intention to appoint John Evans as the Digital Services Commissioner in Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM). His appointment will take effect from 24 July 2023.

As per Head 6 of the General Scheme of the Digital Services Bill which was published by the Irish government earlier this year, it is intended that Mr Evans will be responsible for coordinating the supervision and enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Ireland as the Digital Services Commissioner. He will also be responsible for liaising and cooperating with the European…

Continue Reading Commissioner for Digital Services in Coimisiún na Meán to be Appointed

Introduction

Following its establishment earlier this year, Coimisiún na Meán (the CNM) released its first work programme on 20 June 2023. This work programme (the 2023 Programme) sets out the primary objectives of the CNM for 2023 up to February 2024.

The objectives in the 2023 Programme include the following:

  • Supporting the development of the wider media sector with funding schemes, together with initiatives to promote the Irish language, media literacy, as well as equality, diversity and
    • … Continue Reading Coimisiún na Meán releases its Work Programme for 2023

    On 6 June 2023, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a consultation on the template for the compliance report that designated “gatekeepers” will be required to submit annually under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

    Compliance Report for Gatekeepers

    A “core platform service” for the purposes of the DMA (for example, online search engines, web browsers and social networks) will qualify as a gatekeeper if it has:

  • at least 45 million monthly end
    • … Continue Reading DMA: Consultation on the form of compliance report for gatekeepers now open

    On 31 May, Minister for Justice Simon Harris signed the European Union (Online Dissemination of Terrorist Content) (Designation of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána as a Competent Authority) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) into law. The Regulations designate An Garda Síochána as:

    1. the Irish competent authority for issuing removal orders in accordance with Article 3 of the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation 2021/784 (the TCO); and
    2. the Irish contact point for clarification and feedback in relation to the removal orders that it issues.

    Article 3 TCO provides that a competent authority of each EU Member State has…

    Continue Reading An Garda Síochána appointed as a competent authority under the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation

    1 June 2023 marks a significant step forward for patent protection and enforcement in Europe with the commencement of a new unified European patent system comprising:

    1. A Unitary Patent, providing uniform protection and equal effect across all participating Member States on a one-stop-shop basis.
    1. A Unified Patent Court (UPC), offering a single, specialised patent court common to all participating Member States.

    We previously reported (in 2021 and 2022) on the steps taken towards the establishment of the Unitary Patent and UPC, and the legislative hurdles that needed to be overcome for their operation to commence.

    Overview of…

    Continue Reading A Significant Step Forward: The Unitary Patent System and Unified Patent Court Commence Operation in Participating Member States

    The Commission has published a draft delegated act on audits to be performed very large online platforms (“VLOPs“) and very large online search engines (“VLOSEs“) pursuant to Article 37 of Digital Services Act Regulation (“DSA“) for public feedback.Continue Reading Commission publishes Draft Delegated Act in respect of Audits conducted under DSA

    Following the first designation of Very Large Online Platforms (“VLOPS“) and Very Large Online Search Engines (“VLOSEs”) under the Digital Services Act Regulation (“DSA“) on 25 April 2023, the European Commission has now announced a call for evidence from stakeholders to inform proposed delegated acts on data access mechanisms.Continue Reading Commission Calls for Stakeholder Views on Data Access Mechanism under DSA

    Last week, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted the first designation decisions under the Digital Services Act (DSA) which designated certain services as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and / or Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) in accordance with Article 33(4) of the DSA. 

    17 VLOPs and 2 VLOSEs were designated under the decisions adopted by the Commission:

    • VLOPs: Alibaba AliExpress; Amazon Store; Apple AppStore; Booking.com; Facebook; Google Play; Google Maps; Google Shopping; Instagram; LinkedIn; Pinterest; Snapchat; TikTok; Twitter; Wikipedia; YouTube; Zalando.
    • VLOSEs: Bing; Google Search.

    It has been reported that…

    Continue Reading European Commission designates VLOPs and VLOSEs under the Digital Services Act

    In a recent significant judgment1 from the Irish Circuit Court, the judge concluded that “justice is best served” by granting a stay of a data subject’s damages claim pending determination of certain preliminary references currently before the CJEU. The court expressed a view that damages in the case, if awarded, were likely to be small and a stay would not impact the procedural efficiency of the proceedings, but a delay in granting a stay could substantially and unnecessarily increase legal costs for the defendant.Continue Reading “Justice Best Served” – Data Subject Claims Stayed

    Yesterday, 01 February 2023, the Commission published guidance on how online platforms and search engines within the scope of the Digital Services Act (DSA) should comply with their obligation to report user numbers in the EU.

    As highlighted in our recent update, the DSA requires providers of online platforms and of online search engines to publish, by 17 February 2023, information on the average monthly active recipients of their services in the EU, on their publicly available online interfaces. The number must be calculated as an average over the period of the past six months.

    Online platforms/search engines, whose numbers reach the threshold of 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU, will be designated by the Commission as very large online service providers (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs). However, the Commission is not bound by information provided by online service providers, – it may use other available data or request additional information.

    While the guidance is not ground breaking, it provides a helpful interpretation of certain provision of the DSA.

    In relation to the calculation of active recipients of the service, the guidance stipulates the following:Continue Reading DSA: Commission issues guidance on the requirement to publish user numbers in the EU