Germany is hoping to catch up to the rest of the world in free WiFi in cafes and public places with a new law that exempts providers from liability for users’ illegal acts. The exemption is in a new law being drafted by the Economics Minister.
Up to now, German business owners have been reluctant to provide WiFi for customers, at least not without complicated password sign-ins. That’s because under current law, if a customer uses the WiFi to download pirated music or movies, the business owner can be sued or prosecuted by the copyright owner.
As a result, government research finds, Germany has 1.87 hotspots per 10,000 population, while South Korea has 37.35 and the UK 28.67. Nearly 60% of German businesses don’t offer WiFi to customers. Other European countries have much more. Surprisingly, that hasn’t stopped Germans from buying connected devices: they average 3 per person, compared to a global average of 1.2.
Germany tried to relieve the liability once before, but the law was attacked by copyright lawyers, and was set aside for poor language. In the meantime, the situation has come to the front again after the European Court of Justice ruled that member states could not subject providers of open WiFi to prosecution.
