Sverige (SE)

Sweden

The Marketing Practices Act was amended according to the scheme outlined by Article 10 of the Distance Selling Directive (97/7/EC).

Restrictions on the use of certain means of distance communication

1. Use by a supplier of the following means requires the prior consent of the consumer:
• automated calling system without human intervention (automatic calling machine),
• facsimile machine (fax).
2. Member States shall ensure that means of distance communication, other than those referred to in paragraph 1, which allow individual communications may be used only where there is no clear objection from the consumer.

Obeställd reklam

13 a § /Träder i kraft I:2000-05-01/ En näringsidkare får vid marknadsföring till en fysisk person använda telefax eller sådana uppringningsautomater eller andra liknande automatiska system för individuell kommunikation som inte betjänas av någon enskild, bara om den fysiska personen har samtyckt till det på förhand.

Näringsidkaren får använda andra metoder för individuell kommunikation på distans om inte den fysiska personen tydligt motsatt sig att metoden används. Lag (2000:129).

Unsolicited advertisement

13 a § (Enters into force on 2000-05-01) A supplier may not advertise to a natural person using telefax or an automated dialing system or other similar automatic system for individual communication not operated by a human, unless that natural person has agreed beforehand.

A supplier may use other means for individual communication over distance unless the natural person has clearly objected to the use of that method.

The Swedish law differs from the original Directive by including "other similar automatic system for individual communication...". This could leave room for interpretation by the courts as including email.

The Government had decided to ignore the recommendations of the Finance Department and the Commission of Inquiry and presented the bill in the form shown above. An attempt to amend the bill to include email with fax and automated calling systems explicitly rather than by implication was voted down.

The new law is not expected to change very much: ISPs remain free to enact and enforce "anti-UBE" policies, which most (if not all) do at present.

(2000-05-20)
 

The Commission of Inquiry on Consumer Rights in the IT Society appointed September 30, 1998, led by commissioner Brita Swan, has delivered its report Konsumenterna och IT - en utredning om datorer, handel och marknadsföring (SOU 1999:106). With respect to advertising via e-mail, the Commission sides with the consumers, as can be seen from the English summary:

Unsolicited e-mail advertising is particularly intrusive and also burdens the consumer financially. This is unacceptable from the consumer viewpoint. The protection that the consumer is afforded by existing legislation, international ethical guidelines, blacklists, technology, etc. is not sufficient. I therefore propose that consumer protection is strengthened in this respect. When marketing to consumers via the Internet, business operators should not be allowed to use electronic mail or similar technologies for distance communication without the prior consent of the consumer. The Government should work to ensure that corresponding protection is in due course introduced throughout the entire EU.

Thus the findings of the Commission largely agree with the position taken by the earlier proposal from the Ministry of Finance to amend the Marketing Practices Act.

A different opinion is presented by experts Edward af Geijerstam, Telia InfoMedia TeleVision AB, Marianne Reuterskiöld, Sveriges Marknadsförbund, Nicklas Skår, Svenska Bankföreningen, Inger Soldéus, Svensk Handel, and Anders Stenlund, Industriförbundet, who disagree with the proposal to disallow marketing via e-mail without prior consent from the recipient.

(Anders Andersson 1999-11-12)
 

In a proposal (as a .PDF in Swedish) from the Ministry of Finance to amend the Marketing Practices Act, it is envisaged, among other things, to prohibit unsolicited advertisments being sent via "telefax, electronic mail, automatic dialing systems or other similar automatic messaging systems", essentially mandating an opt-in scheme for these devices.

Voice telephone marketing is also being considered for inclusion under this restriction, but it may alternately end up with "other methods for peer-to-peer communication" such as (paper) mail, where an opt-out way of refusing advertisments is considered sufficient.

The stricter part of this proposal governing use of fax and e-mail is based on Article 10, point 1, of Directive 97/7/EC on Distance Contracts and the observation that e-mail is sufficiently similar to fax and other automatic means of communication to warrant similar treatment by the law.

The entire proposal (with commentary) is currently undergoing review by various bodies, and any comments should be sent back to the Ministry of Finance before October. Proposed date of effect is May 1, 2000.
 

Today the Swedish government issued a press release saying that they will have a committee look into the protection of consumer's rights in "the IT society". The inquiry is meant to strenghen the consumer's rights and it shall analyse, inter alia, the possibility for consumer's not to have to receive unsolicited commercial e-mail.

The committee shall report its findings on October 1, 1999. I haven't been able to find the press release in English, but the complete text in Swedish [was] available at http://www.regeringen.se/databas/press-901786076.html . [Sven has Babelled this - see below - Ed]

(Jenny Holmberg 1998-08-03)

 
Without any guarantee of accuracy etc.:

<BABEL_FISH>

The rights of the consumers in the IT community is being investigated - The use of information technology (IT) means great possibilities for the consumers to strenghten their position on the market. For the consumers to be able to gain from the technology they need to know how and to dare to use it, a confindence must exist for the technology.

"Minister of consumers" Lars Engquist says this because of the governments decision today to nominate an investigation on consumers' rights in the IT community.

An increased commerce, for instance on the Internet, inreases competition and development of products, which in the future can be profitable for the consumer in reducing prices on a majority of products. The information technology can also bring better access to services for some groups like older people and people in thinly populated areas.

The starting-point for the investigation shall be to strenghten the rights of the consumers in the IT community.

The investigator shall, among other questions, analyse:

• - If there in connection with marketing via Internet are special needs for protection of exposed consumer groups like kids and youth.
• - Which possibilities there are for consumers to avoid receiving unwanted advertisements via e-mail.
• - If integrity problems can arise or if consumers are more exposed when shopping using information technology, for example via the Internet.

Investigator will be former "president of a court of appeal division" Brita Swan of Ostrogothia.

The investigator shall account for her commision Oct 1 1999.

</BABEL_FISH>

With a hope that any major errors will be pointed out by others...

(Sven 1998-08-03)