Hosting Intermediary Services and Illegal Content Online An analysis of the scope of article 14 ECD in light of developments in the online service landscape

This short study looks at the scope of the hosting safe harbour, in view of policies with respect to illegal content online and questions about the scope of Article 14 of the Electronic Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) from a legal and practical perspective. Specifically, the study addresses the question of what are the kinds of services that could invoke Article 14 ECD and develops an updated typology of hosting intermediaries for policy experts. It outlines the different potential revenue streams of different hosting intermediaries and discusses how these revenue streams may influence the incentives of services to address unlawful or infringing third-party activity. Finally, the study discusses the most important legal issues with respect to the scope of Article 14 ECD, focusing on the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and other legal developments.