(8) Consumers should benefit from harmonised rights for the supply of digital_content and digital_services that provide a high level of protection.
They should have clear mandatory rights when they receive or access digital_content or digital_services from anywhere in the Union.
Having such rights should increase their confidence in acquiring digital_content or digital_services.
It should also contribute to reducing the detriment consumers currently suffer, since there would be a set of clear rights that will enable them to address problems they face with digital_content or digital_services.
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(21) Directive (EU) 2019/771 should apply to contracts for the sale of goods, including goods_with_digital_elements.
The notion of goods_with_digital_elements should refer to goods that incorporate or are inter-connected with digital_content or a digital_service in such a way that the absence of that digital_content or digital_service would prevent the goods from performing their functions.
Digital content or a digital_service that is incorporated in or inter-connected with goods in that manner should fall within the scope of Directive (EU) 2019/771 if it is provided with the goods under a sales contract concerning those goods.
Whether the supply of the incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_service forms part of the sales contract with the seller should depend on the content of this contract.
This should include incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_services the supply of which is explicitly required by the contract.
It should also include those sales contracts which can be understood as covering the supply of specific digital_content or a specific digital_service because they are normal for goods of the same type and the consumer could reasonably expect them given the nature of the goods and taking into account any public statement made by or on behalf of the seller or other persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, including the producer.
If, for example, a smart TV were advertised as including a particular video application, that video application would be considered to be part of the sales contract.
This should apply regardless of whether the digital_content or digital_service is pre-installed in the good itself or has to be downloaded subsequently on another device and is only inter-connected to the good.
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(23) Digital representations of value such as electronic vouchers or e-coupons are used by consumers to pay for different goods or services in the digital single market.
Such digital representations of value are becoming important in relation to the supply of digital_content or digital_services, and should therefore be considered as a method of payment within the meaning of this Directive.
Digital representations of value should also be understood to include virtual currencies, to the extent that they are recognised by national law.
Differentiation depending on the methods of payment could be a cause of discrimination and provide an unjustified incentive for businesses to move towards supplying digital_content or a digital_service against digital representations of value.
However, since digital representations of value have no other purpose than to serve as a method of payment, they themselves should not be considered digital_content or a digital_service within the meaning of this Directive.
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