The end of Geoblocking for E-Commerce in Europe has arrived

February 7, 2018 will mark a before and after in online sales and e-commerce in the European Union. The European Parliament voted in favor of drawing up a regulation to end the geo-blockade (Geoblocking -technique of restricting access to certain online products or services based on geographic location), obliging vendors and service providers to give people access to them under the same conditions throughout the EU, regardless of where they connect.

Until now, it was common practice not to accept credit cards or payments from another country or to charge different prices or include extra fees depending on the location of the buyer. According to a previous study carried out by the European Commission, this practice occurs more frequently in the purchase of household appliances. (86%) and, in the field of services, it affects to a greater extent the leisure sector reserves such as sporting event tickets (40%).

Since the regulation comes into force, nine months later from the day of its publication in the EU Official Journal expected in March 2018, consumers will be able to purchase goods and services without cross-border restrictions, eliminating regulations and unjustified barriers that are holding back the development of e-commerce in Europe.

Among the products and services covered by the regulation are hotel stays, car rentals and purchases, tickets to shows, cloud services, firewalls, data storage, web hosting, fashion, electronics, household appliances...

However, copyrighted material such as video streaming platforms, computer games, game consoles and e-books, are not included in this new European regulation. Audiovisual services and transportation have also been excluded from the law for the time being.

The European Commission presented the European Parliament's decision with a joint statement by a Vice-President and two Commissioners that read: "As of Christmas 2018If they are in the EU, people will not have to worry about a website blocking them or rerouting them simply because they, or their credit cards, come from a different country. Wherever they are in the EU, they will be able to access products and services online.

For those who wish to learn more about this new European legislation, here are a few links links of interest: www.xinhuanet.com ecommerce-news.es www.dw.com gizmodo.com www.vozpopuli.com