New EU rules greatly restrict the ability of businesses to use geoblocking techniques

Geo-blocking is no longer a laissez-faire matter in the European Union. From December 2018, a new set of rules apply that limits the use of geo-blocking by online businesses operating in the EU. The Geo-blocking Regulation — as this set of rules is commonly referred to — introduces the following key requirements: Online businesses may not block, re-route or otherwise limit access to their websites without the customer’s prior consent. In practice this means that a customer located for example in the Czech Republic should be able to freely access the Bulgarian version of an online shop and may not be automatically redirected to its Czech version. Read more…