ICT laws and regulations (overview)

Complex but regulated

There is no single ICT law. ICT laws and regulations consist of various regulations. These may concern, among other things, information technology and Internet law:

• the Copyright Act (including Article 45h et seq.)
• the Database Act
• the National Patent Act
• the Act on Topographies of Semiconductors (microchips)
• and EU directives on these subjects

The following laws or legal doctrines are related to ICT law:

• the Telecommunications Act
• the Personal Data Protection Act – privacy law
• the “Cybercrime Convention” and others
• the Bankruptcy Act, including in relation to software
• the Civil Code, including on:
• ITC liability; source code escrow; pledging (6:162; 7:600, 3:236 et seq. BW)
• contract law; distance selling (e-commerce) (7:46 a-j BW)
• liability in electronic legal transactions (6:196 b BW)
• information society services (3:15d and 6:196 c BW)

This is not an exhaustive list. Case law is also a source of law.