Gate Keeper or Trespasser? EU ISP Liability Regime and its Privacy Implications

The case Google Spain decided in front of the CJEU provides for just one example of an infinite number of occasions in which parties such as end users, content owners and rights management organisations have sought to assign intermediaries/Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with liability for infringements perpetrated online. Internet actors often look to ISPs as the gatekeepers of the web and therefore the most suitable party to be held liable in relation to illegal online activity, whether it is in relation to economic or fundamental rights and interests. Accordingly, this article provides an overview of the ever-shifting notion of ISP liability in the online digital environment in light of the Google Spain decision, in a specific attempt to answer the following question: how far are we willing to affect the functioning of ISPs through their liability for online activity in order to install order in an unruly digital arena