Reconciling new technologies with existing EU law – Online platforms as information society service providers
| Author | Maciej Szpunar |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X20941286 |
| Published date | 01 August 2020 |
| Date | 01 August 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
Reconciling new technologies
with existing EU law – Online
platforms as information
society service providers
Maciej Szpunar
Introduction
The Court of Justice today faces numerous challenges which concern issues such as the rule of law,
various aspects of fundamental rights protection (especially in the context of the scope of the
Charter, its relation to the national constitutions and the European Convention of Human Rights). I
have no doubt that legal problems resulting from the emergence and the development of new
technologies constitute, too, part of these challenges.
Of course, it is very difficult to define what the so-called ‘new technologies’ are. On the one
hand, when we think about new technologies, what comes to our mind in the first place is the
Internet and everything that is linked to its functioning. On the other hand, to say in 2020 that the
Internet constitutes a new technology seems a bit backward and outdated. We all use the Internet
on a daily basis. At the same time, many legal issues pertaining to the Internet remain unresolved.
We do not know how to deal with various infringements committed in connection with the use of
the Internet. We do not know how to characterize some of the legal transactions concluded with the
help of the Internet, that is, we do not know how to identify and define a proper legal framework.
The consequences of the use of the Internet for existing legal rules or principles can be analysed
from various angles. Let me refer to a few, randomly selected, examples. These examples may be
random in nature, but they nevertheless attempt to display the breadth of problems we are con-
fronted with.
First, until the emergence of the Internet, the essential challenge for every business undertaking
was to ensure that supply would find and match the relevant demand. Nowadays, in theory at least,
the Internet has created a situation in which every supply can meet every demand.
1
This has had a
tremendous impact on the economy. As an illustration, it suffices to point to platforms such as
Airbnb, which have substantially reinforced the market of renting and letting apartments. This
market for short-term renting had of course existed beforehand, but it was Airbnb which provided a
1. For a further discussion on defining the geographical market see V. Hatzopoulos, The Collaborative Economy and EU
Law (Hart Publishing, 2018), p. 119.
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2020, Vol. 27(4) 399–405
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1023263X20941286
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