Consumers have practically no rights in the digital world. This is the conclusion of a study published by vzbv today (13 July) in Berlin. “Conditions for use, copy-protected systems, and a copyright law full of loopholes have led to a lawless environment for consumers in the digital world”, said Patrick von Braunmühl, deputy director of vzbv. “In addition, many providers of digital media lack customer orientation. Our study shows that existing consumer rights are ignored by providers”.
vzbv and its members have launched an offensive for a consumer-friendly copyright law and for the protection of consumer rights in the digital environment. Leading providers of digital media – including iTunes, T-Com, Nero and ciando – were reminded of this yesterday by vzbv. Brigitte Zypries, federal Minister for justice, and Horst Seehofer, Minister for consumer protection, should expect many letters and emails from consumers in the next few weeks.
Study
The study examins whether and to what extent the interests of consumers are adversely affected by providers of digital copyrighted content. A variety of use and licensing conditions and technical protection measures related to various types of digital content marketing services and copyrighted products are examined. The study extends among other things to music download services, commercial electronic publications, online archives, audio and image media, software and eBooks.
