OLG Munich prohibits Amazon Dash Buttons

I myself am actually an IT nerd and a regular customer at Amazon. But I’ve always been suspicious of the Dash buttons, too. But that may not matter now, because the Munich Higher Regional Court has banned the distribution of the gadget. The Senate agreed with the Regional Court, as it saw the WLAN order buttons as a violation of the button solution from Section 312j of the German Civil Code (BGB), which can otherwise cause problems for online stores.

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(2) In the case of a consumer contract in electronic commerce involving a service provided by the trader against payment, the trader must provide the consumer with the information referred to in Article 246a Section 1 (1) sentence 1 numbers 1, 4, 5, 11 and 12 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code in a clear and comprehensible manner in a prominent manner immediately before the consumer places his order.
(3) The trader shall design the ordering situation for a contract in accordance with paragraph 2 in such a way that the consumer expressly confirms with his order that he undertakes to make a payment. If the order is made by means of a button, the obligation of the entrepreneur from sentence 1 is only fulfilled if this button is clearly legible with nothing but the words “order subject to payment” or labeled with a corresponding unambiguous wording.
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Incidentally, the consumer association in North Rhine-Westphalia, which filed the lawsuit, had primarily criticized the lack of transparency in prices and the inability to compare prices. The Senate also clarified that Amazon must inform the customer immediately before sending the order about the price and the goods actually ordered. So far, this information is sent to the app only after the button is pressed, i.e. after the order is placed. The clause of the “Amazon Dash Replenishment Terms of Use”, with which Amazon reserves the right to change the terms of the contract, was also deemed unlawful by the court.

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.