On 3 December 2018, the Geo-blocking Regulation came into force across
the EU. This Regulation is designed to prevent unjustified
geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on
nationality, place of residence or place of establishment. The
Geo-blocking Regulation is also another measure towards the
EU's strategic goal of a digital single market.
In this briefing, we explain geo-blocking and outline the
application and key rules of the Geo-blocking Regulation. We also
provide some insight into recently introduced domestic legislation that will support
enforcement of the Geo-blocking rules in Ireland.
What is Geo-blocking?
Geo-blocking refers to practices used by online traders to
restrict online cross-border sales based on nationality, residence
or place of establishment. This could, for example, involve using a
computer's IP address to determine a user's geographic
location and then blocking that user from accessing websites in a
different location
