The German Fair Consumer Contracts Act in the Domain Industry

The new German Fair Consumer Contracts Act was adopted on 17 August 2021, bringing with it a strengthening of consumer rights and correspondingly extended obligations for businesses. While certain new provisions will only come into force at different points of time in 2022, the other amendments are already applicable. The Act is also regarded as a reaction to the increasing digitalisation of business transactions. In December 2021, the Names & Numbers Forum working group at eco - Association of the Internet Industry discussed the Act in the context of the domain name and hosting industry. This paper now provides an overview of the most important dates and information on the Act which need to be implemented by end-consumer service providers active on the German market.