The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released its long awaited report on whether online intermediary liability protections under the E-Commerce Directive should be extended to hyperlinkers, location tool services and content aggregators. However the outcome is something of a non-event, the report concluding that there is insufficient evidence at present to justify an extension of intermediary liability. Predictably, the report shows that the responses to the DTI’s original consultation paper in June 2005 split into two clear camps, with rights holders resisting an extension and search providers favouring it. The DTI have called upon the European Commission to consider the arguments for and against in their next review of the E-Commerce Directive.
