Chapter One.
GENERAL
Subject to regulation
Art. 1. (1) This law regulates public relations related to the implementation of electronic commerce.
(2) Electronic commerce within the meaning of this law is the provision of services to the information society.
(3) Services of the information society are such services which are usually remunerative and are provided at a distance through the use of electronic means after an express statement by the recipient of the service.
(4) The provisions of this law do not apply to the settlement of relations in the provision of information society services related to:
1. the establishment and collection of public receivables;
2. (amended - SG No. 41 of 2007) the protection of personal data, including in the field of electronic communications;
3. agreements, decisions and concerted practices within the meaning of Art. 9 of the Law on Protection of Competition;
4. notarial activity and other professional activities related to the performance of public functions;
5. procedural representation;
6. gambling.
Freedom to provide information society services
Art. 2. Information society services are provided freely, unless otherwise provided by law.
Provider and recipient of information society services
Art. 3. (1) A service provider is a natural or legal entity that provides services to the information society.
(2) A recipient of services is a natural or legal person who uses information society services for a professional or other purpose, including for the needs of searching for information or providing access to it.
Chapter two.
OBLIGATIONS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION
General information
Art. 4. (1) The provider of information society services is obliged to provide unhindered, direct and permanent access to the recipients of the services and to the competent authorities to the following information:
1. your name or title;
2. your permanent address or seat and address of management;
3. the address at which it carries out its activity, if it is different from the address under item 2;
4. correspondence data, including telephone and e-mail address, to establish direct and timely contact with him;
5. data for entry in a commercial or other public register;
6. information about the body exercising control over its activity, when this activity is subject to a notification, registration or licensing regime;
7. when carrying out a regulated profession - information about the chamber, trade union or organization in which the supplier is a member or is registered, the professional title and the country in which it was granted, as well as a reference to the applicable regulations regarding the right to exercise the trade or profession and instructions for accessing them;
8. relevant indication, if registered under the Value Added Tax Act;
9. other information provided for in a regulatory act.
(2) When prices are indicated in the provision of services to the information society, they must be indicated in a clear and comprehensible manner. The service provider is obliged to indicate whether the prices include taxes, fees and expenses that form the final price.
Commercial messages
Art. 5. (1) Commercial communications within the meaning of this law are advertising or other communications directly or indirectly presenting the goods, services or reputation of the person carrying out a commercial or craft activity or exercising a regulated profession.
(2) They do not constitute commercial messages within the meaning of para. 1 the independent use of:
1. information providing direct access to the person's activity, such as his domain name or e-mail address;
2. messages about the goods, services or reputation of the person, the information about which was collected in an independent way, without being paid for it.
(3) Commercial messages that are part of a service or constitute a service of the information society must meet the following requirements:
1. be easily recognizable as commercial;
2. allow clear identification of the natural or legal persons on whose behalf they are made;
3. to define clearly and unambiguously the conditions for using promotional offers, such as discounts, premiums and gifts, if they include such;
4. to provide easy access to clear and unambiguous conditions for participation in competitions and games with announced prizes, if they contain such information;
5. to contain the information provided for in other legal acts.
Unsolicited commercial messages
Art. 6. (1) A service provider who sends unsolicited commercial messages by e-mail without the prior consent of the recipient is obliged to ensure that the commercial message is clearly and unambiguously recognized as unsolicited as soon as it reaches the recipient.
(2) (Amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 24.12.2006) The Commission for the Protection of consumers keep an electronic register of the electronic addresses of legal entities that do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial messages, in accordance with the procedure determined by an ordinance of the Council of Ministers.
(3) It is prohibited to send unsolicited commercial messages to electronic addresses entered in the register under para. 2.
(4) It is prohibited to send unsolicited commercial messages to users without their prior consent.
Commercial communications for persons in regulated professions
Art. 7. (1) Persons exercising regulated professions may use commercial messages as part of a service or representing a service of the information society.
(2) The commercial messages under para. 1 must comply with the professional rules and ethical codes of conduct of persons with regulated professions, in particular the rules on the independence, dignity and honor of the profession, professional secrecy and fair treatment of clients and other members of the profession.
Chapter Three.
OBLIGATIONS OF SUPPLIERS WHEN CONCLUSION OF CONTRACTS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS
Obligation to provide information
Art. 8. (1) In the case of a proposal to conclude a contract by electronic means, the service provider shall in advance inform the recipient of the service in a clear, comprehensible and unambiguous manner regarding:
1. the technical steps of concluding the contract and their legal significance;
2. whether the contract will be stored by the service provider and what is the way to access it;
3. the technical means for identifying and correcting errors in the entry of information before the declaration of conclusion of the contract is made;
4. the languages in which the contract can be concluded.
(2) The service provider is obliged to indicate the method of electronic access to the ethical code of conduct to which he adheres.
Access to the general conditions and content of the contract
Art. 9. The service provider is obliged to provide the recipient of the service with the general conditions and the content of the contract in a way that allows their storage and reproduction.
Obligations on contract declaration
Art. 10. (1) The service provider provides appropriate, efficient and accessible technical means for identifying and correcting errors when entering information before the recipient of the service makes a statement to conclude the contract.
(2) The service provider shall, without undue delay, confirm by electronic means the receipt of the contract conclusion statement.
Receiving the statement
Art. 11. The statement of conclusion of the contract and the confirmation of its receipt are considered received when their addressees have access to them.
Exceptions
Art. 12. (1) The provisions of Art. 8 and 10 must be applied in cases where the recipient of the service is a user.
(2) The provisions of Art. 8 and 10 do not apply to contracts concluded exclusively by e-mail or other equivalent means of exchanging individual statements.
Chapter Four.
RESPONSIBILITY OF PROVIDERS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY SERVICES
Responsibility for provision of access and transmission services
Art. 13. (1) (Amended - SG No. 41 of 2007) When providing access to or transmission over an electronic communication network, the service provider is not responsible for the content of the transmitted information and for the activity of the recipient of the service, if:
1. does not initiate the transmission of the information;
2. does not select the recipient of the transmitted information, and
3. does not select or modify the transmitted information.
(2) (Amended - SG No. 41 of 2007) The provision of access to or transmission over an electronic communication network within the meaning of para. 1 includes automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of the transmitted information, carried out solely for the purpose of carrying out the transmission through an electronic communication network, and the information is not stored for a period longer than usually necessary for the transmission.
Liability in provision of automated information search services
Art. 14. (1) A provider that provides services providing automated information search is not responsible for the content of the retrieved information if:
1. does not initiate the transmission of the extracted information;
2. does not select the recipient of the retrieved information, and
3. does not select or modify the retrieved information.
(2) Paragraph 1 does not apply if the information resource from which the information is extracted belongs to the provider or a person related to it.
Responsibility for intermediate storage (caching)
Art. 15. (Amended - SG No. 41 of 2007) A service provider that transfers information entered by the recipient of the service in an electronic communication network is not responsible for the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of the information necessary for its effective transmission to other recipients of the service at their request if:
1. does not change the information;
2. complies with the requirements for access to information;
3. complies with the generally accepted rules for updating information;
4. legitimately uses the generally accepted technologies for obtaining information use data;
5. immediately removes information that it has stored or suspends access to it upon learning of the fact that:
(a) the information has been removed from the network of the original source or access to it has been suspended, or
b) there is an act of a competent state authority to remove the information or suspend access to it, when this is established by law.
Responsibility for storing foreign information (hosting) and for electronic references to foreign information (linking)
Art. 16. (1) A provider of a service representing storage of information provided by a recipient of the service is not responsible for its content, as well as for the activity of the recipient of the service, if:
1. did not know about the illegal nature of the activity or the information, or
2. he was not aware of the facts or circumstances that make the activity or information clearly illegal.
(2) Paragraph 1 does not apply if:
1. the recipient of the service is a person related to the service provider;
2. the provider found out or was notified of the illegal nature of the information or was notified by a competent state authority of the illegal nature of the recipient's activity and did not take immediate action to suspend access to it or to remove it; this does not relieve the provider of any legal obligation to retain the information.
(3) At the request of a competent state authority in the cases established by law, the provider is obliged to provide any information regarding the recipient of the service and his activity.
(4) Paragraphs 1 - 3 shall be applied accordingly in cases where a service provider provides access to foreign information by means of an electronic reference.
Absence of a general obligation to monitor information
Art. 17. The service provider is not obliged to monitor the information it stores, transfers or makes available when providing services to the information society, nor to look for facts and circumstances indicating the performance of illegal activity.
Services provided free of charge
Art. 18. The provisions of art. 13 - 17 also apply to providers of information society services provided free of charge.
Chapter Five.
APPLICABLE LAW
Applicable law in the provision of information society services
Art. 19. (Effective from 01.01.2007) (1) The requirements for starting and carrying out information society service provision activities are governed by the law of the country where the service provider's place of business is located, if it is at the territory of a member state of the European Union.
(2) Place of business is the place where the service provider performs economic activity for an indefinite period. The presence and use of technical means and technologies necessary for the provision of the service are not sufficient in themselves to determine the place of business of the service provider.
(3) Paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply with respect to:
1. the requirements relating to the properties of the goods and their delivery or services that are not provided by electronic means;
2. copyright and related rights, industrial property rights, database rights and integrated circuit topology rights;
3. electronic money issues issued by issuers of electronic money instruments that are exempt from general licensing requirements;
4. the legal regulation regarding the advertising of the securities issued by investment companies and contractual funds for collective investment, of the country in which these securities are traded;
5. insurance contracts;
6. the freedom of the parties to choose the law applicable to the contract;
7. contractual obligations under consumer contracts;
8. the requirements for the form of validity of the contracts establishing or transferring real rights, governed by the law of the country where the property is located;
9. the admissibility of unsolicited commercial communications by e-mail.
Chapter Six.
CONTROL AND INTERACTION
Control
Art. 20. (1) (Previous text of Art. 20, amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) The Commission for Consumer Protection exercises comprehensive control over compliance with this law and the regulation under Art. 6, para. 2.
(2) (New - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) When performing their official duties, the officials of the Consumer Protection Commission have the right:
1. of access to all documents related directly or indirectly to a violation of this law or the legislation of the member states of the European Union introducing the requirements of Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on electronic commerce, regardless of the form of the document;
2. to order each person to provide information on violations under item 1, which are known to him;
3. to carry out on-site inspections.
(3) (New - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) When performing their official duties, the officials under para. 2 s and obliged to protect official, banking, insurance, professional or commercial secrecy and not to disclose data from the checks before their completion, as well as not to use the information from the check outside of its intended purpose.
(4) (New - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) The Chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection has the right to:
1. ordered the violator in writing to cease the violation under par. 2, item 1;
2. require the violator to declare that he will cease the violation under par. 2, item 1 and, if necessary, to oblige him to make the declaration public;
3. ordered the termination or prohibition of any violation under para. 2, item 1 and, if necessary, make the order to cease or prohibit the violation public.
Interaction and cooperation
Art. 21. (1) (Amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) The Chairman of the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications shall cooperate and interact with the competent authorities of the member states of the European Union, and with the European Commission.
(2) (Amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) The Chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection organizes and maintains information for the purposes of this law, which is published on the official website of the Consumer Protection Commission and contains:
1. general information regarding the rights and obligations of providers and recipients of information society services and the procedure for settling disputes between them;
2. information about the authorities and persons who can provide additional information or provide practical assistance.
(3) (Amend. - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) The State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications and the Commission for Consumer Protection provide an opportunity to contact them on the issues under para. 1 and 2 of their competence at least by using electronic means.
Chapter Seven.
DISPUTES
Consumer Protection Claims
Art. 22. The consumer protection commission and consumer protection associations shall bring claims for the suspension or prohibition of actions and commercial practices under this law that are in violation of the collective interests of consumers, and claims for compensation under the conditions and in accordance with chapter nine , section III of the Consumer Protection Act.
Chapter Eight.
ADMINISTRATIVE PENAL PROVISIONS
Art. 23. (1) A service provider who commits or permits the commission of a violation under Art. 4, Art. 5, para. 3, Art. 8, para. 1, Art. 9 or Art. 10, is punishable by a fine in the amount of BGN 200 to BGN 1,000, if the act does not constitute a crime.
(2) In the cases under para. 1, a pecuniary sanction in the amount of BGN 500 to BGN 2,500 is imposed on the legal entity or the sole trader.
(3) In case of repeated violation, the fine under para. 1 is in the amount of BGN 500 to BGN 1,500, and the property sanction under para. 2 - in the amount of BGN 1,000 to BGN 4,000.
Art. 24. (1) A service provider who commits or permits the commission of a violation under Art. 6, para. 1, 3 or 4, is punishable by a fine in the amount of BGN 250 to BGN 1,500, if the act does not constitute a crime.
(2) In the cases under para. 1, a pecuniary sanction in the amount of BGN 500 to BGN 2,000 is imposed on the legal entity or sole trader.
(3) In case of repeated violation, the fine under para. 1 is in the amount of BGN 500 to BGN 2,500, and the property sanction under para. 2 - in the amount of BGN 1,000 to BGN 4,000.
Art. 24a. (New - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) (1) For failure to comply with an order under Art. 20, para. 2, item 2 and para. 4 the guilty persons shall be fined in the amount of 250 to 1000 BGN, and the sole traders and legal entities - a pecuniary sanction in the amount of 500 to 2000 BGN.
(2) In case of repeated violation under para. 1, a fine shall be imposed on the guilty persons, and a pecuniary sanction, in double amount, on sole traders and legal entities.
Art. 25. (1) (Amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 24.12.2006) Acts for establishing violations are drawn up by officials appointed by the chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission.
(2) (Amended - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 24.12.2006) Penal decrees are issued by the chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission or by a person expressly authorized by him - a member of the commission.
(3) The establishment of the violations, the issuance, appeal and execution of the criminal decrees are carried out in accordance with the Law on Administrative Violations and Penalties.
Additional provisions
§ 1. Pursuant to this law:
1. "Provision of services at a distance" is the provision of services where the parties are not simultaneously in the same place.
2. "Provision of services by electronic means" is the provision of services in which each of the parties uses devices for electronic processing, including digital compression and storage of information, and the service is entirely carried out using wire, radio waves, op tical or other electromagnetic means.
3. "On the explicit statement of the recipient of the service" means that the service is provided upon the explicit declaration of desire for use by the recipient.
4. "User" is a user within the meaning of § 13, item 1 of the additional provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.
5. "A person related to the service provider" is a related person within the meaning of § 1 of the additional provisions of the Commercial Law.
6. "Domain name" is an alphanumeric designation of an electronic address that provides the identification of a resource, computer or group of computers in an Internet network by means of a standardized Internet protocol for data transfer.
7. "Regulated profession" is a regulated profession within the meaning of § 4c of the additional provisions of the Higher Education Act.
8. "Electronic mail" is an electronic means for storing and transmitting electronic messages over an Internet network using standardized protocols.
9. "Electronic link" means a link indicated in a particular Internet page that allows an automated reference to another Internet page, information resource or object through standardized protocols.
10. (new - SG No. 105 of 2006, in force from 01.01.2007) "Repeated" is the violation committed within one year from the entry into force of the criminal decree, which imposed a penalty for the same under type of violation.
Final provisions
§ 2. In the Civil Procedure Code (published, Izv., no. 12 of 1952; amended, no. 92 of 1952, no. 89 of 1953, no. 90 of 1955, no. No. 90 of 1956, No. 90 of 1961, Amended No. 1 of 1963 23 of 1973, No. 36 of 1985, No. 27 of 1985 of 1986, No. 60 of 1989, No. 62 of 1991 of 1992, No. 61 and 93 of 1995, No. 12, 26, 44 and 104 of 1996, No. 55 and 124 of 1997. , No. 21, 70 and 73 of 1999, No. 36, 85 and 92 of 2001, No. 105 and 113 of 2002, Nos. 58 and 84 of 2004, Nos. 38, 42, 43, 79, 86 and 105 of 2005, Nos. 17, 33 , 34, 36 and 37 of 2006) in Art. 126a, para. 3 at the end, "and the claims arising from the provision of information society services under the Electronic Commerce Act" is added.
§ 3. In the Consumer Protection Act (promulgated, SG No. 99 of 2005; amended, No. 30 of 2006) in Art. 186, para. 2 the following amendments and additions are made:
1. A new item 5 is created:
"5. The Law on Electronic Commerce;".
2. The previous item 5 becomes item 6.
§ 4. In the Law on Telecommunications (promulgated, SG No. 88 of 2003; amended, Nos. 19, 77, 88, 95, 99 and 105 of 2005, Nos. 17, 29 and 34 of 2006) in Art. 19 is created para. 5:
"(5) The Commission supervises the activity of providing services to the information society and keeps a register of legal entities that do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial messages in accordance with the procedure specified in the Law on Electronic Commerce."
§ 5. The Council of Ministers adopts the regulation under Art. 6, para. 2 within 6 months from the promulgation of the law in the "State Gazette".
§ 6. This law enters into force 6 months after its promulgation in the "State Gazette", with the exception of Art. 19, which enters into force from the date of entry into force of the Treaty on the Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union.
Final provisions
TO THE LAW ON THE PROVISION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES FROM A DISTANCE
(PUBLISHED - SG, NO. 105 OF 2006, IN FORCE FROM 01.01.2007)
§ 12. The Act enters into force on January 1, 2007, with the exception of § 4, items 1 and 5, which enter into force on the day of entry into force of the Electronic Commerce Act.
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The law was adopted by the 40th National Assembly on June 9, 2006 and was stamped with the official seal of the National Assembly.
Relevant acts of European legislation
DIRECTIVE 2000/31/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, and in particular of electronic commerce in the internal market