This book provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and state-of-the-art discussion of fundamental legal issues in intermediary liability online, while also describing advancement in intermediary liability theory and identifying recent policy trends.

The theoretical--and market--background against which the intermediary liability debate developed has changed considerably since the first appearance of online intermediaries almost two decades ago. These changes have been reflected--or will soon most likely be reflected--in changing policy approaches. The role of Online Service Providers (OSPs) is unprecedented for their capacity to influence the informational environment and users' interactions within it. The ethical implications of OSPs' role in contemporary information societies are raising unprecedented social challenges. The decisions made by these platforms increasingly shape contemporary life. Therefore, whether and when access providers and communications platforms such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook are liable for their users' online activities is a key factor that affects innovation and fundamental rights. There are emerging legal, policy, and ethical issues facing online intermediaries that have so far received various inconsistent answers even within the same jurisdiction. To better understand the heterogeneity of the international online intermediary liability regime, The Oxford Handbook of Online Intermediary Liability is designed to provide a comprehensive, authoritative, and 'state-of-the-art' discussion of this topic. This book will review fundamental legal issues in online intermediary liability, while also describing advances in intermediary liability theory and identifying recent policy trends.

This chapter of the Oxford Handbook of Online Intermediary Liability sets the stage for considering the tension between intermediary liability and fundamental rights with special emphasis on the European legal framework. Competing fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, privacy, freedom of business and the right to property are entangled into the intermediary liability conundrum. Policy makers are still in search of a balanced and proportional fine tuning of online intermediaries' regulation that might address the miscellaneous interests of all stakeholders involved, with special emphasis on users' rights. In this context, the increasing reliance on automated enforcement technologies, which will be the topic of further review in multiple chapters throughout the Handbook, might set in motion dystopian scenarios where users' fundamental rights are heavily undermined.

Internet jurisdiction has emerged as one of the greatest and most urgent challenges online; affecting areas as diverse as e-commerce, data privacy, law enforcement, content take-downs, cloud computing, e-health, cyber security, intellectual property, freedom of speech, and cyberwar. In this innovative book, Professor Svantesson presents a vision for a new approach to Internet jurisdiction based on an extensive period of research dedicated to the topic. The book demonstrates that our current paradigm remains attached to territorial thinking that is out of sync with our modern world, especially, but not only, online. Having made the claim that our adherence to the territoriality principle is based more on habit rather than on any clear and universally accepted legal principles, Professor Svantesson advances a new jurisprudential framework for how we approach jurisdiction - a framework that unites private, and public, international law. He also proposes several other reform initiatives aimed at equipping us to solve the Internet jurisdiction puzzle. In addition, the book provides a history of Internet jurisdiction, and challenges our traditional categorisation of different types of jurisdiction. It places Internet jurisdiction in a broader context and outlines methods for how to properly understand and work with rules of Internet jurisdiction. While Solving the Internet Jurisdiction Puzzle paints a clear picture of the concerns involved and the problems that needs to be overcome, this book is distinctly aimed at finding practical solutions anchored in a solid theoretical framework. Professor Svantesson argues that many of the Internet jurisdiction problems we face are due to a sleepwalking-like acceptance of orthodox thinking. Solving the Internet Jurisdiction Puzzle acts as a wake-up call to this issue.

The Oxford Handbook on Freedom of Speech provides a critical analysis of the foundations, rationales, and ideas that underpin freedom of speech as a political idea, and as a principle of positive constitutional law.

In step with its rapid progress to the centre of modern social, political, and economic life, the internet has proven a convenient vehicle for the commission of unprecedented levels of copyright infringement. Given the virtually insurmountable obstacles to successful pursuit of actual perpetrators, it has become common for intermediaries –providers of internet-related infrastructure and services – to face liability as accessories. Despite advances in policy at the European level, the law in this area remains far from consistently applicable. This is the first book to locate and clarify the substantive rules of European intermediary accessory liability in copyright and to formulate harmonised European norms to govern this complicated topic. With a detailed comparative analysis of relevant regimes in three major Member State jurisdictions – England, France, and Germany – the author elucidates the relationship between these rules and the demands of EU law on fundamental rights and the principles of European tort law. She clearly presents the interrelations between such areas as the following: - accessory liability in tort; - joint tortfeasance; - European fault-based liability: fault, causation, defences; - negligence; - negligence balancing: rights-based or utility-based?; - Germany’s “disturbance liability” (Störerhaftung); - fair balance in human rights; - end-users’ fundamental rights; - The European Commission’s 2015 Communication on a Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe; - The E-Commerce Directive and other relevant provisions; - Safe harbours: mere conduit, caching, hosting; - Intermediary actions: monitoring, filtering, blocking, removal of infringing content; and - application of remedies: damages and injunctions. The strong points of each national system are highlighted, as are the commonalities between them, and the author uses these to build a proposed harmonised European framework for intermediary liability for copyright infringement. She concludes with suggestions for the future possible integration of the proposed framework into EU law. The issue of the liability of internet intermediaries for third party copyright infringement has entered into the political agenda across the globe, giving rise to one of the most complex, contentious, and fascinating debates in modern copyright law. This book offers an opportunity for a re-conceptualisation and rationalisation of the applicable law, in a way which additionally better accounts for the cross-border nature of the internet. It will be of inestimable value to many interested parties – lawyers, internet intermediaries, NGOs, policymakers, universities, libraries, researchers, lobbyists – in matters regarding the information society.

Internet intermediaries play a central role in modern commerce and society. Although their economic and social importance is well-recognised, their legal liability remains poorly understood, and, until now, no work has specifically addressed their legal responsibility for wrongdoing carried out by third parties using their facilities or platforms. This work fills that gap by providing comprehensive coverage of the legal duties owed by intermediaries and the increasingly complex schemes that regulate their activities. The first part of the work introduces the concept of an internet intermediary, general doctrines of primary and secondary liability, and the European enforcement regime. The second part examines the liability of intermediaries in specific areas of law, with a detailed analysis of the applicable liability rules, and the major English case law, and decisions of the Court of Justice that interpret and apply them. The final part of the work provides guidance on remedies and limitations. Written by an expert author from the intellectual property chambers at 8 New Square, Lincoln's Inn, this is an essential guide for lawyers advising on liability, privacy, and online regulation.