News
Call on the European Parliament to future proof the Digital Services Act
Digital Services Act: #EarnYourExemption initiative
Digital Services Act: Trust, but verify
Open Letters
February 2022
KYBC: Open Letter
“Digital Services Act: Know Your Business Customer obligations must apply to all intermediary service providers to offer a meaningful tool for tackling illegal activities and products online.”
November 2021
DSA – Earn your exemption initiative
“In order for the Digital Services Act (DSA) to achieve a safe and more trustworthy online environment, companies that do not comply with the DSA’s due diligence obligations should not be entitled to the DSA’s liability exemptions. …”
November 2021
KYBC Letter to the European Council
“Know your business customer” (KYBC) obligations: a real and tangible solution to reduce illegal content and products with minimal burdens on intermediaries and legitimate businesses…”
November 2021
KYBC Letter to the European Parliament
“Digital Services Act: Know Your Business Customer obligations must meet the ambition set by the European Parliament to provide a meaningful tool for tackling illegal activities and products online…”
18 june 2021
The letter from ASOP EU and 6 other health-centred organisations to the European Parliament
“ASOP EU and 6 other health-centred organisations co-sign a letter to all Members of the European Parliament calling for the scope of the DSA to be expanded to cover all Intermediaries not just online marketplaces…”
18 june 2021
The letter from ASOP EU and 6 other health-centred organisations to the European Council
“Digital Services Act: The current proposal if approved will not meet the ambition set by the European Commission which includes the statement “…to create a safer and more open digital space.”…”
Quotes
European People’s Party
EPP Group Red Lines on the Digital Service Act
19 Jan 2021
“Transparency obligations: Require digital intermediaries (in Business to business relations only) including domain name registrars, web hosting providers, marketplaces and online advertisers to put in place effective ‘Know Your Business Customer Verification’ schemes. Moreover, platforms should be transparent with regards to the policy they adopt when it comes to repeat infringers.”
Laura Houlgatte
Chair of Creativity Works!
15 Dec 2020
“The DSA is a unique opportunity to translate the declaration ‘What is illegal offline is also illegal online’ into concrete actions. Digital services do not require any incentivisation to act against such content. They just need clear obligations to protect users, citizens, consumers and businesses from illegal activities.“
Michelle Gibbons
AIM Director General
15 Dec 2020
“There is no place for illegal goods, including counterfeits, in our digital economies: the legal framework should be geared to supporting innovation and the relaunch of the economy. What is illegal offline should be illegal online.“
the Center for Data Innovation
How Including the “Know Your Business Customer” Requirement in the DSA Could Help Address Some of the Web’s Biggest Problems
20 Nov 2020
“How much should Internet platforms know about the businesses that use their services? One proposal on the table for the Digital Services Act (DSA), an update to the EU’s nearly two-decade-old eCommerce Directive, is to require platforms implement a “know your business customer” (KYBC) policy to prevent bad actors from operating under a cloak of anonymity. The idea, which has gained support from the Commission’s top executives and some representatives from various industries, ranging from media publishers and advertisers to pharmaceutical companies and the sporting goods industry, presents an opportunity to improve online services for businesses and consumers, if properly implemented.
The DSA has created an opportunity for the EU to consider new strategies for improving the online environment, protecting consumers from various risks, and enhancing the competitiveness of online businesses, and a carefully implemented KYBC requirement could help achieve these goals.”
World Economic Forum Partnership Against Cybercrime
Insight Report
Nov 2020
“Private companies need to recognize that they have a significant role to play in not only identifying criminal trends and activities, but also in actively countering them… By working together against cybercriminals, they can dismantle malicious infrastructure, gather and preserve evidence for arrest and prosecution, and rescue and restitute lost assets.”
Europol
Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2020
5 Oct 2020
“With the growth of cloud services, a new modus operandi has emerged in which threat actors rent virtual private servers from legitimate hosting providers using fake or stolen identities. This highlights the need for stronger KYC policies with businesses and organisations across the sector.”
Alex Agius Saliba
Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee rapporteur
28 Sept 2020
“For the first time, we are introducing at EU level new concepts, such as Know your Business Customer, ex-ante rules for the digital sectors, special responsibilities for online marketplaces to guarantee consumer safety, stricter rules on targeted advertising and AI mechanisms and a scope that will encompass companies established even outside the EU”
“Such a measure will help address one part of the problems with disinformation, misleading, or illegal content, and the sale of unsafe and fake products online”
European Parliament
Plenary Session
28 Sept 2020
“The principle of “what is illegal offline is also illegal online”, as well as the principles of consumer protection and user safety, should become “guiding principles” of the future DSA”
Margrethe Vestager
Executive Vice-President
3 Jul 2020
“For a start, platforms need to better identify those who are selling on their market places. It is ridiculous that a trader that has been caught selling illegal products can disappear in thin air, and sign in under a different name five minutes later. Platforms also need to act much more rigorously against illegal products and services offered on their platforms. And they have to cooperate more closely with law enforcement authorities, so that the authors behind such criminal activity can be caught.”
Thierry Breton
Commissioner for Internal Market
2 Jun 2020
‘Non-compliant products are dangerous for consumers but also undermine the level playing field for businesses by providing competitive advantages to companies which do not follow the rules.’
Quotes from the KYBC Webinar
Alex Agius Saliba
Member of the European Parliament
10 Dec 2020
“Limiting Know Your Business Customer obligations for online marketplaces only would leave a legal loophole in the enforcement and protection of citizens and businesses online, who are particularly vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Online service providers should not be allowed to fake or mislead about their identity online. Similar practices already exist in the financial world, thus we are not reinventing the wheel when asking for Know Your Business Customer provisions to be included in the Digital Services Act.”
“Know Your Business Customer provisions will be applicable to a limited number of business users and will not impact online anonymity. KYBC adds a layer of verification mechanism to already existing provisions in the e-Commerce Directive to ensure those are properly enforced.”
Ricardo Castanheira
Digital-Telecom Coordinator, Permanent Representation of Portugal
10 Dec 2020
“The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU will welcome the inclusion of Know Your Business Customer rules as part of the DSA. KYBC should not be limited only to online marketplaces and will help enforcement of consumer rights, fighting piracy and counterfeit goods.”
Mike Isles
Executive Director, Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP)
10 Dec 2020
“It should be our right to have a safe and secure internet environment. It is an undisputed fact that EU citizens are in danger – fake medicines are a direct threat to health and life. We need to upgrade internet accountability through Know Your Business Customer rules.”
Marie Pattullo
Senior Trade Marks and Brand Protection Manager, AIM, European Brands Association
10 Dec 2020
“If you are taking money from a business you should know who they are – this is not controversial. When a consumer goes into a retail store, they know they are protected and can get in contact with seller if there is a problem. Not verifying identity of business customers would be unthinkable in the offline world.”
Tom Galvin
Executive Director, Digital Citizens Alliance
10 Dec 2020
“In times of crisis, bad actors seize the moment to prey on fear to spread misinformation and sell goods that do not exist: fake Covid-19 vaccines, poor quality masks… This is why we need Know Your Business Customer provisions to know who sells us what online.”
Tim Kuik
Managing Director, BREIN
10 Dec 2020
“All three of the main back-office services that provide content to Russia’s leading pirate sites are based in the EU. This is why Know Your Business Customer provisions should be part of the Digital Services Act.”