In the context of the online market, characterised by extreme rapidity in the development of trade, it is important not to underestimate certain regulations that apply regardless of whether the relationships between companies, professionals and consumers are created in the digital environment.
It is important to consider that online sales are subject to the same regulatory requirements for offline sales, also with regard to horizontal and vertical restrictions prohibited by competition law, whose borders become fainter and more difficult to identify in the dematerialised context of the Internet.
This was the subject of our Lawyers, Mr Alberto Dal Ferro and Mr Andrea Cevese, at the seminar organised by Confindustria Vicenza on the subject of e-commerce and the new EU rules.
The difficulty in recognising the validity and lawfulness of particular relationships between manufacturers, distributors and retailers is also combined with the provisions on Geoblocking, adopted by the European Union at the beginning of 2018 and applicable starting from the end of the same year.
Those which may seem to be legal obstacles that are difficult for companies to overcome, however, denote the ultimate goal of guaranteeing fairer market conditions for all competing companies and, finally, for the end user.
Thus, more than obstacles, the regulations applicable also in the online sales sector must be looked in a positive light by these companies: as tools for commercial development and expansion possibilities.