ECJ on the definition of communication services and regulation

In response to a request from the Higher Administrative Court of Münster, the ECJ delivered its ruling on the question whether Gmail is an electronic communications service within the meaning of the Framework Directive 2002/21 for electronic communications networks and services and would therefore be subject to the regulation of the Federal Network Agency in accordance with Section 6 of the TKG 2004.

The ECJ’s response is likely to interest many similar providers of communication, including chats and the like. Art. 2 lit. c of Directive 2002/21/EC (Framework Directive), as amended by Directive 2009/140/EC, must be interpreted as meaning that an internet-based email service which, like the Gmail service provided by Google, does not provide internet access does not consist wholly or mainly in the transmission of signals over electronic communications networks and therefore does not constitute an ‘electronic communications service’ within the meaning of that provision.

In the ECJ’s view, the provider of an internet-based e-mail service such as Gmail does indeed transmit signals. However, it cannot be concluded from this that the activities carried out by Google in order to ensure the functioning of its internet-based e-mail service constitute an ‘electronic communications service’ in the form of a framework directive, since that directive is service does not consist entirely or predominantly in the transmission of signals over electronic communications networks. It is, on the one hand, the internet access providers of the senders and recipients of e-mails and, where applicable, the providers of internet-based e-mail services and, on the other hand, the operators of the various networks that make up the open internet, which essentially ensure the
transmission of the signals necessary for the functioning of each internet-based e-mail service and which are responsible for this.

The fact that the provider of an Internet-based e-mail service is actively involved in the sending and receipt of messages is by assoring the IP addresses of the relevant terminal devices to the e-mail addresses or by disasarising the messages into data packets and disasaring them into the to feed in or receive open internet from the open Internet in order to be forwarded to its recipients is not sufficient to classify that service as consisting entirely or predominantly in the transmission of signals over electronic communications networks.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.