On 18 March 2016, the European Commission (EC) published the preliminary findings of its antitrust inquiry into e-commerce.
According to the EC, analysis of the data shows that 38% of surveyed retailers who sell consumer goods online use geographic blocking, reflected principally in a refusal to deliver abroad. Other means are also used, such as refusal to accept foreign payment methods and, to a lesser extent, website redirection or blocking. 12% of retailers refer to the existence of contractual restrictions on cross-border sales in relation to at least one of the category of products they offer.
As regards online digital content, the majority (68%) of providers said that they geographically block users located in other Member States of the European Union (EU); this block is essentially based on the user's Internet Protocol address. 59% of surveyed content providers reported that they were contractually bound by suppliers to practice geographical blocking. There are significant differences with regard to the prevalence of geographic blocking between different categories of digital content and the various Member States of the EU.
Detailed analysis of all the inquiry’s findings will be presented in a preliminary report to be published for submission to public consultation in mid-2016, with the publication of the final report scheduled for first quarter 2017.
Further information:
- Antitrust: e-commerce sector inquiry finds geo-blocking is widespread throughout EU http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-922_en.htm
