In the master thesis the author analyses the development of the EU's digital single market and examines its gradual restriction by discriminatory practices which are inconsistent with the freedoms of the internal market. Such practices are hindering the movement of goods and services within the Union, which prevents the realization of the full growth potential of the EU internal market and the consumer's choice. Although such different treatment might, in some cases, be objectively justified, in other cases, respectively, some trader's practices deny or limit access to online interfaces, apply different general conditions of access to their goods or services or do not accept means of payment or apply different conditions for payment transactions, for reasons related to customer's nationality, a place of residence or place of establishment. The European Commission has identified discriminatory practices of unjustified geographical blocking and, for a selected number of cases, set out targeted measures in its Regulation (EU) 2018/302. In this paper the author assesses the overall impact of the current Regulation (EU) 2018/302 and shows the importance of complementary treatment of the EU's competition rules in relation to the Commission's legislative framework on geographical blocking. In the light of the aforementioned facts, the author seeks to answer the research question whether the provisions in distribution (licensing) agreements that dictate territorial restrictions and geographical blocking of copyrighted digital content violate the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/302 or fair competition rules respectively. The conclusions show that the answer is not easy, as a number of factors need to be taken into account, including the characteristics of the digital content industry, the legal and economic context of licensing practices, as well as the characteristics of the service and geographic markets concerned.
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