Free Software/Open Source Software Licenses are bipartite agreements concluded between the manufacturer of the Software and any person acting either in its professional activity or outside it. The terms and conditions of the relevant contract are almost always pre – formulated and, if validly incorporated, bind the Licensee in terms of a large number of contractual issues. Although the relevant contracts mainly regulate the use and exploitation of the Licensor’s Intellectual Property Rights, other issues related to the users’ rights - such as warranties or contractual liability - are also determined in a great detail. The legal importance of the terms and conditions regulating the latter issues is even greater, whenever the Licensees may be qualified as consumers, within the meaning of the applicable law.

In that context, the proposed presentation attempts to extract the key provisions of the European Communities’ Consumer Protection Legislation applicable to OSS Licenses, with a view to demonstrate both the existing legal framework and the future trends. Thus, a discussion will follow as to the following topics:

-    The extent to which the general principles of European Contract Law  may apply to OSS Licenses

-    The applicability of EC Consumer protection Directives to OSS contractual arrangements (Directives 93/13/EEC, 97/7/EC, 2000/31/EC and Directive 85/374/EEC)


-    The rights conferred upon the consumers under the aforementioned existing legal framework

-    The  future trends, as recorded during the recent public hearing for the Review of the Consumer Acquis carried out by the European Commission

-    Certain aspects of Jurisdiction