Today Internet has been serving not only to exchange information, but it is a place of offering different services. Hosting service providers can be categorized as one type of online intermediaries, which provide a huge amount of information through their websites. However, they do not know which information is illegal until someone notifies them about illegal content on their website. In another word, hosting service providers should have “actual knowledge” to take action against illegal content. If they do not have actual knowledge, they should not be liable for illegal content, which they host.
This article explains how notice and action procedure works in the EU and shows some main issues of its legal framework. In first section, it analyzes the different ways of interpretation of “actual knowledge” and its horizontal application to all illegal contents. Then it discusses how fast illegal contents should be removed or disabled regarding with different types of illegal contents. Finally, it recommends some future reforms to EU legislation in order to make this procedure more transparent and fair.
