EUROPEAN UNION
Will the EU Digital Services Act shape the future of on-line gaming? PASSED WITH LITTLE FANFARE IN APRIL 2022, THE EU’S DIGITAL SERVICES ACT PROMISES TO BRING ABOUT THE KIND OF SHAKEUP THAT WILL MAKE GDPR SEEM INSIGNIFICANT. ITS FULL RAMIFICATIONS ARE YET TO BE FELT BUT JAKA REPANSEK OUTLINES THE MAIN PROVISIONS.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) creates new standards for digital services in the EU. It regulates illegal content online, the protection of users’ rights, and the liability of a wide variety of online intermediaries, including online marketplaces, cloud providers and app stores. DSA will have a deep impact on the on-line gaming industry and business models in the EU. As with GDPR, there will be a long-term world-wide impact as well. The DSA, together with its sister regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), forms a new set of rules intended to create a safer and more open digital space and to foster innovation and competitiveness. DSA reforms and supplements the e-Commerce Directive 1 as it relates to online intermediaries, maintaining core pillars such as safe harbour provisions while introducing new obligations relating to disinformation, illegal
goods and content, cyber violence, dark patterns and targeted advertisements. Businesses operating online, including on- line gaming and betting sites, will benefit from access to tools for flagging illegal content and activities that could otherwise damage their trade and services. Application of DSA to all parties is from the beginning of 2024. However, for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and the European Commission, the application date may be earlier - between spring and the summer of 2023 once the exact definition of “very large” is published. All online platforms that are not micro or small enterprises will have to start reporting their average monthly user count from February 2023 the months after the entering into force of DSA on 16th November 2022. The DSA will apply alongside its sister regulation, the DMA,
1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32000L0031
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IMGL MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2023
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