Liability of free Wi-Fi providers

The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") was recently asked to rule on the interpretation of the E-Commerce Directive, which establishes that mere providers of free Wi-Fi Internet access cannot be held liable for IP infringements committed by users of their network.

Intermediary providers of free Wi-Fi services acting as a "mere conduit" are exempt from liability in respect of the information provided on the network, on condition that the provider: (i) does not initiate the transmission; (ii) does not select the receiver of the transmission; and (iii) does not select or modify the information contained in the transmission.