Uniformity v. Diversity of Internet Intermediaries’ Liability Regime: Where does the ECJ stand?

This paper seeks to determine the scope of the ECJ’s decision of 23 March 2010 and its impact upon the laws of Member state. Thereby it attempts to stress the different sources of conflicts that can arise when national judges have to deal with the tricky issue of Internet intermediaries’ liability. At the same time this paper tries to give a sense of what is the institutional function of European private law in a multi-level system of governance. Whereas the first begins with examining the means used by the Court to bring national laws closer trough a uniform interpretation of key European provisions, the second part highlights the significant regulatory leeway granted to Member states. This leeway explains why horizontal and diagonal conflicts are likely to persist until a constructive inter-normative dialogue between national courts takes place,following in step with traditional top down method of harmonisation.