On October 16, 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a preliminary ruling in which it clarified the contact details requirements for Web sites, as set forth in article 5(1) of the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC). This article provides that at least "the details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner" must be provided on the Web site of an online service provider.rnThe ECJ's ruling was triggered by a case between the Bundesverband (the German Federation of Consumer's Associations) and DIV, an automobile insurance company that offers its services exclusively via the Internet. On its Web site, DIV mentioned only its postal address, an email address, and an online contact form. No telephone number was communicated to the customer until after the online conclusion of an insurance contract.rnBundesverband considered this practice to be a violation of German and European e-commerce legislation. The German courts eventually referred the case to the ECJ to receive clarification on how article 5(1) of the E-commerce Directive should be interpreted.
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