The European Court of Justice decides on the liability of an Internet access provider

In a decision of March 27, 2014 (C-314/12), the European Court of Justice had to decide on the admissibility of specific court orders rendered by national courts against Internet access providers. National courts are allowed to grant an injunction prohibiting an Internet access provider from allowing its customers access to a website placing protected subject-matter online without the agreement of the right holder. However, there must be a certain degree of freedom for the Internet access provider when choosing the right measures to respect the court order. Furthermore, only reasonable measures must be taken. In this context, it has to be taken into account whether the measure is effective in preventing unauthorized access to the protected subject-matter or, at least, of making it difficult to achieve and that the measures do not unnecessarily deprive Internet users of the possibility of lawfully accessing the information available.