Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN

be fit for the purposes for which digital_content or digital_services of the same type would normally be used, taking into account, where applicable, any existing Union and national law, technical standards or, in the absence of such technical standards, applicable sector-specific industry codes of conduct;

(b)

be of the quantity and possess the qualities and performance features, including in relation to functionality, compatibility, accessibility, continuity and security, normal for digital_content or digital_services of the same type and which the consumer may reasonably expect, given the nature of the digital_content or digital_service and taking into account any public statement made by or on behalf of the trader, or other persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, particularly in advertising or on labelling unless the trader shows that:

(i)	the trader was not, and could not reasonably have been, aware of the public statement in question;

(ii)	by the time of conclusion of the contract, the public statement had been corrected in the same way as, or in a way comparable to how, it had been made; or

(iii)

the decision to acquire the digital_content or digital_service could not have been influenced by the public statement;

(c)	where applicable, be supplied along with any accessories and instructions which the consumer may reasonably expect to receive; and

(d)	comply with any trial version or preview of the digital_content or digital_service, made available by the trader before the conclusion of the contract.

2. The trader shall ensure that the consumer is informed of and supplied with updates, including security updates, that are necessary to keep the digital_content or digital_service in conformity, for the period of time:

(a)	during which the digital_content or digital_service is to be supplied under the contract, where the contract provides for a continuous supply over a period of time; or

(b)	that the consumer may reasonably expect, given the type and purpose of the digital_content or digital_service and taking into account the circumstances and nature of the contract, where the contract provides for a single act of supply or a series of individual acts of supply.

3. Where the consumer fails to install, within a reasonable time, updates supplied by the trader in accordance with paragraph 2, the trader shall not be liable for any lack of conformity resulting solely from the lack of the relevant update, provided that:

(a)	the trader informed the consumer about the availability of the update and the consequences of the failure of the consumer to install it; and

(b)	the failure of the consumer to install or the incorrect installation by the consumer of the update was not due to shortcomings in the installation instructions provided by the trader.

4. Where the contract provides for a continuous supply of digital_content or digital_service over a period of time, the digital_content or digital_service shall be in conformity throughout the duration of that period.

5. There shall be no lack of conformity within the meaning of paragraph 1 or 2 if, at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the consumer was specifically informed that a particular characteristic of the digital_content or digital_service was deviating from the objective requirements for conformity laid down in paragraph 1 or 2 and the consumer expressly and separately accepted that deviation when concluding the contract.

6. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, digital_content or a digital_service shall be supplied in the most recent version available at the time of the conclusion of the contract.

Article 12

Burden of proof

1. The burden of proof with regard to whether the digital_content or digital_service was supplied in accordance with Article 5 shall be on the trader.

2. In cases referred to in Article 11(2), the burden of proof with regard to whether the supplied digital_content or digital_service was in conformity at the time of supply shall be on the trader for a lack of conformity which becomes apparent within a period of one year from the time when the digital_content or digital_service was supplied.

3. In cases referred to in Article 11(3), the burden of proof with regard to whether the digital_content or digital_service was in conformity within the period of time during which the digital_content or digital_service is to be supplied under the contract shall be on the trader for a lack of conformity which becomes apparent within that period.

4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply where the trader demonstrates that the digital_environment of the consumer is not compatible with the technical requirements of the digital_content or digital_service and where the trader informed the consumer of such requirements in a clear and comprehensible manner before the conclusion of the contract.

5. The consumer shall cooperate with the trader, to the extent reasonably possible and necessary, to ascertain whether the cause of the lack of conformity of the digital_content or digital_service at the time specified in Article 11(2) or (3), as applicable, lay in the consumer's digital_environment. The obligation to cooperate shall be limited to the technically available means which are least intrusive for the consumer. Where the consumer fails to cooperate, and where the trader informed the consumer of such requirement in a clear and comprehensible manner before the conclusion of the contract, the burden of proof with regard to whether the lack of conformity existed at the time specified in Article 11(2) or (3), as applicable, shall be on the consumer.

Article 19

Modification of the digital_content or digital_service

1. Where the contract provides that the digital_content or digital_service is to be supplied or made accessible to the consumer over a period of time, the trader may modify the digital_content or digital_service beyond what is necessary to maintain the digital_content or digital_service in conformity in accordance with Articles 7 and 8, if the following conditions are met:

(a)	the contract allows, and provides a valid reason for, such a modification;

(b)	such a modification is made without additional cost to the consumer;

(c)	the consumer is informed in a clear and comprehensible manner of the modification; and

(d)

in the cases referred to in paragraph 2, the consumer is informed reasonably in advance on a durable_medium of the features and time of the modification and of the right to terminate the contract in accordance with paragraph 2, or of the possibility to maintain the digital_content or digital_service without such a modification in accordance with paragraph 4.

2. The consumer shall be entitled to terminate the contract if the modification negatively impacts the consumer's access to or use of the digital_content or digital_service, unless such negative impact is only minor. In that case, the consumer shall be entitled to terminate the contract free of charge within 30 days of the receipt of the information or of the time when the digital_content or digital_service has been modified by the trader, whichever is later.

3. Where the consumer terminates the contract in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, Articles 15 to 18 shall apply accordingly.

4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply if the trader has enabled the consumer to maintain without additional cost the digital_content or digital_service without the modification, and the digital_content or digital_service remains in conformity.

Article 24

Transposition

1. By 1 July 2021 Member States shall adopt and publish the measures necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

They shall apply those measures from 1 January 2022.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

2. The provisions of this Directive shall apply to the supply of digital_content or digital_services which occurs from 1 January 2022 with the exception of Articles 19 and 20 of this Directive which shall only apply to contracts concluded from that date.

whereas

(28) The market for number-independent interpersonal communications services, which do not connect with publicly assigned numbering resources, is rapidly evolving.
In recent years, the emergence of new digital_services which allow interpersonal communications over the internet, such as web-based email and online messaging services, has led more consumers to use such services.
For such reasons, it is necessary to provide effective consumer protection with respect to such services.
This Directive should therefore also apply to number-independent interpersonal communications services.

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(47) For the period of time that the consumer would reasonably expect, the trader should provide the consumer with updates, including security updates, in order to keep the digital_content or digital_service in conformity and secure.
For instance, as regards digital_content or digital_services, the purpose of which is limited in time, the obligation to provide updates should be limited to that time, while for other types of digital_content or digital_service the period during which updates should be provided to the consumer could be equal to the liability period for lack of conformity or could extend beyond that period, which might be the case particularly with regard to security updates.
The consumer should remain free to choose whether to install the updates provided.
Where the consumer decides not to install the updates, the consumer should, however, not expect the digital_content or digital_service to remain in conformity.
The trader should inform the consumer that the consumer's decision not to install updates which are necessary for keeping the digital_content or digital_service in conformity, including security updates, will affect the trader's liability for conformity of those features of the digital_content or digital_service which the relevant updates are supposed to maintain in conformity.
This Directive should not affect obligations to provide security updates laid down in Union law or in national law.

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(51) Many types of digital_content or digital_services are supplied continuously over a period of time, such as access to cloud services.
It is therefore necessary to ensure that the digital_content or digital_service is in conformity throughout the duration of the contract.
Short-term interruptions of the supply of digital_content or a digital_service should be treated as instances of lack of conformity where those interruptions are more than negligible or recur.
Moreover, given the frequent improvement of digital_content and digital_services, in particular by updates, the version of digital_content or of a digital_service supplied to the consumer should be the most recent one available at the time of the conclusion of the contract, unless the parties have agreed otherwise.

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(74) This Directive should also address modifications, such as updates and upgrades, which are carried out by traders on the digital_content or digital_service which is supplied or made accessible to the consumer over a period of time.
Considering the fast-evolving character of digital_content and digital_services, such updates, upgrades or similar modifications may be necessary and are often advantageous for the consumer.
Some modifications, for instance those stipulated as updates in the contract, may form part of the contractual commitment.
Other modifications can be required to fulfil the objective requirements for conformity of the digital_content or digital_service as set out in this Directive.
Yet other modifications, which would deviate from the objective requirements for conformity and which are foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the contract, would have to be expressly agreed to by the consumer when concluding the contract.

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(75) In addition to modifications aimed at maintaining conformity, the trader should be allowed under certain conditions to modify features of the digital_content or digital_service, provided that the contract gives a valid reason for such a modification.
Such valid reasons could encompass cases where the modification is necessary to adapt the digital_content or digital_service to a new technical environment or to an increased number of users or for other important operational reasons.
Such modifications are often to the advantage of the consumer as they improve the digital_content or digital_service.
Consequently, the parties to the contract should be able to include clauses in the contract which allow the trader to undertake modifications.
In order to balance consumer and business interests, such a possibility for the trader should be coupled with a right for the consumer to terminate the contract where such modifications negatively impact the use of or access to the digital_content or digital_service in more than only a minor manner.
The extent to which modifications negatively impact the use of or access to the digital_content or digital_service by the consumer should be objectively ascertained having regard to the nature and purpose of the digital_content or digital_service and to the quality, functionality, compatibility and other main features which are normal for digital_content or digital_services of the same type.
The rules provided for in this Directive concerning such updates, upgrades or similar modifications should however not concern situations where the parties conclude a new contract for the supply of the digital_content or digital_service, for instance as a consequence of distributing a new version of the digital_content or digital_service.

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(76) Consumers should be informed of modifications in a clear and comprehensible manner.
Where a modification negatively impacts, in more than a minor manner, the access to or use of digital_content or a digital_service by the consumer, the consumer should be informed in a way that allows the information to be stored on a durable_medium.
A durable_medium should enable the consumer to store the information for as long as is necessary to protect the interests of the consumer arising from the consumer's relationship with the trader.
Such media should include, in particular, paper, DVDs, CDs, USB sticks, memory cards or hard disks as well as emails.

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(86) Since the objectives of this Directive, namely to contribute to the functioning of the internal market by tackling in a consistent manner contract law related obstacles for the supply of digital_content or digital_services while preventing legal fragmentation, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reasons of ensuring the overall coherence of the national laws through harmonised contract law rules which would also facilitate coordinated enforcement actions, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union.
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

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keyboard_tab Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN

Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN