Germany Passed the Third Amendment to the Telecommunications Act

The day before the German "telecommunication law" third draft amendment, public WiFi providers no longer responsible for piracy user provisions in the draft. The proposed draft will pave the way for Germany to provide a wider range of free WiFi.

Brigette, the German Minister of economy and energy, proposed the draft and said that the free WiFi providers, such as Internet cafe operators, would not have to worry about the use of the Internet to access illegal content for their customers. Free WiFi providers do not need to check the user identity, nor need to take encryption or login page. This change should help Germany catch up with the number of free hotspots in other parts of Europe.

The German economy and energy department said that the copyright owner can still request WiFi providers to block certain sites to protect intellectual property rights, but these requirements must be reasonable and appropriate, and through simple router settings to achieve. WLAN providers do not need to assume intellectual property litigation or outside court fees.