유럽연합(EU) 디지털지침의 기본 착상과 적용범위

Directive on Certain Contractual Aspects of Provision of Digital Content and Digital Services - Scope and basic approaches

Contracts on the supply of digital content and digital services have become a new challenge in the contract law. With the new Digital Content Directive the European legislator created for the first time a comprehensive legal framework for digital contract law in Europe. Its major purpose is to remove the existing legal uncertainties and to establish a reliable legal base for the digital economy in which service is impersonal and its use is often tied to the conclusion of an end-user license agreement. Boundaries between permanent and temporary provision and between primary and secondary obligations are blurring. More and more consumers pay by one-time payment, including subscription or disclosing personal data. The Directive on Certain Contractual Aspects of Provision of Digital Content and Digital Services (DIRL) proposes reorganization of contract law that is transposed to the conventional KBGB contract types. Unlike many directives, the DIRL waives a certain typology of contracts. In particular, an arrangement in sales contract works for contract or lease; it confines itself to highlight specific duties and warranty rights in the abstract. In addition, the DIRL recognizes personal data disclosure as “payment” and deems it (almost) as paid contracts.