Consumer Digital Contracts
Consumer Rights Act 2022
Interpretation
2. (1) In this Act—
“Act of 1995” means the Consumer Credit Act 1995 ;
“Act of 2007” means the Consumer Protection Act 2007 ;
“commercial guarantee”, in relation to a sales contract, means any undertaking by a trader or producer to a consumer (in addition to the trader’s legal obligation to supply goods in conformity with the sales contract) to reimburse the price paid or to repair, replace or service goods in any way if they do not meet the specifications or any other requirements not related to conformity set out in the guarantee statement or in the relevant advertising available at the time of, or before, the conclusion of the sales contract;
“compatibility” means the ability of digital content, digital services or goods to function with hardware or software with which digital content, digital services or goods of the same type is or are normally used without the need to convert the digital content, digital service, goods, hardware or software;
“consumer” means an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft or profession;
“delivery” means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another;
“digital content” means data which are produced and supplied in digital form, including in particular computer programs, applications, video files, audio files, music files, digital games, e-books and other e-publications;
“digital content contract” means a contract under which—
(a) a trader supplies or undertakes to supply digital content to a consumer, and
(b) the consumer either or both:
(i) pays or undertakes to pay the price of the digital content;
(ii) provides or undertakes to provide personal data to the trader, other than where the personal data are processed by the trader only for the purpose of supplying the digital content in accordance with this Act or complying with any other legal requirement to which the trader is subject;
“digital service” means—
(a) a service that allows a consumer to create, process, store or access data in digital form, or
(b) a service that allows the sharing of or any other interaction with data in digital form uploaded or created by a consumer or other users of that service,
and includes in particular video and audio sharing and other file hosting, social media, and word processing and games offered in the cloud computing environment;
“digital service contract” means a contract under which—
(a) a trader supplies or undertakes to supply a digital service to a consumer, and
(b) the consumer either or both:
(i) pays or undertakes to pay the price of the digital service;
(ii) provides or undertakes to provide personal data to the trader, other than where the personal data are processed by the trader only for the purpose of supplying the digital service in accordance with this Act or complying with any other legal requirement to which the trader is subject;
“distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, and with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;
“district heating” means the supply of heat (in the form of steam, hot water or otherwise) to multiple buildings from a central source of production through a transmission and distribution system for the purpose of heating;
“durable medium” means any instrument which enables a consumer or a trader to store information addressed personally to that person in a way that is accessible for future reference, for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information, and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored;
“electronic communications service” means a service normally provided for remuneration via electronic communications networks, which encompasses, with the exception of a service providing, or exercising editorial control over, content transmitted using electronic communications networks and services, the following types of service—
(a) a publicly available electronic communications service that provides an internet access service,
(b) an interpersonal communications service, and
(c) a service consisting wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals such as a transmission service used for the provision of a machine-to-machine service and for broadcasting;
“enactment” has the same meaning as it has in the Interpretation Act 2005 ;
“financial service” means any service of a kind normally provided in the ordinary course of carrying on a banking business, an insurance business or a business of providing credit, personal pensions, an investment service or a payment service;
“functionality” means the ability of goods, digital content or digital services to perform their functions having regard to their purpose;
“goods” means any tangible movable items (other than money and any item sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law) and includes—
(a) any tangible movable items that incorporate, or are inter-connected with, digital content or a digital service in such a way that the absence of that digital content or digital service would prevent the goods from performing their functions, and
(b) water, gas and electricity where they are supplied in a limited volume or set quantity;
“goods with digital elements” means any tangible movable items that fall within paragraph (a) of the definition of “goods”;
“internet access service” means a publicly available electronic communications service that provides access to the internet, and thereby connectivity to virtually all end points of the internet, irrespective of the network technology and terminal equipment used;
“interoperability” means the ability of goods, digital content or a digital service to function with hardware or software different from those with which goods, digital content or digital services of the same type are normally used;
“interpersonal communications service” means a service normally provided for remuneration that enables direct interpersonal and interactive exchange of information via electronic communications networks between a finite number of persons, whereby the persons initiating or participating in the communication determine its recipients and does not include services which enable interpersonal and interactive communication merely as a minor ancillary feature that is intrinsically linked to another service;
“Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;
“number-based interpersonal communications service” means an interpersonal communications service which connects with publicly assigned numbering resources, namely, a number or numbers in national or international numbering plans, or which enables communication with a number or numbers in national or international numbering plans;
“off-premises contract” means any of the following contracts between a trader and a consumer:
(a) a contract concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
(b) a contract for which an offer was made by the consumer in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
(c) a contract concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;
(d) a contract concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting and selling goods or services to the consumer;
“ownership” means the general property in goods and not merely a special or limited property;
“personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Act 2018 ;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;
“producer” means a manufacturer of goods, an importer of goods into the European Union or any person purporting to be a producer by placing the person’s name, trade mark or other distinctive sign on the goods and includes any person acting in the name, or on behalf, of the producer;
“sales contract” (other than in Part 5 ) has the meaning assigned to it by section 11 (1);
“service” means any service or facility (other than digital content, a digital service and a service provided under a contract of employment or apprenticeship) and includes in particular—
(a) a service or facility for—
(i) financial or other professional services,
(ii) amusement, cultural activities, entertainment, instruction, recreation or refreshment,
(iii) accommodation,
(iv) communication, including electronic communication,
(v) transport, travel, parking or storage,
(vi) the care and maintenance of persons, animals or things, or
(vii) the construction, maintenance or repair of buildings,
(b) the supply of—
(i) water, gas or electricity where it is not supplied in a limited volume or set quantity, or
(ii) district heating,
and
(c) any rights, benefits, privileges, obligations or facilities that are, or are to be, provided, granted or conferred in the course of a service;
“service contract” (other than in Part 5 ) means a contract (other than a sales contract and a contract for the sale of land (within the meaning of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 )) under which—
(a) a trader supplies or undertakes to supply a service to a consumer, and
(b) the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price of the service;
“trader” means—
(a) a natural person, or
(b) a legal person, whether—
(i) privately owned,
(ii) publicly owned, or
(iii) partly privately owned and partly publicly owned,
who is acting for purposes relating to the person’s trade, business, craft or profession, and includes any person acting in the name, or on behalf, of the trader.
(2) In subsection (1), in the definitions of “digital content contract”, “digital service contract” and “service contract”, any reference to the consumer paying a price includes a reference to the consumer using by way of payment any facility by which payment is made.
(3) It is for a trader claiming that an individual was not acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft or profession to show that the individual was not so acting.
(4) A reference in this Act to the sale of goods includes a reference to the transfer of, or an undertaking to transfer, the ownership of those goods.
(5) A reference in this Act to the supply of a service or a digital service includes a reference to the performance, rendering or provision of the service or of the digital service, as the case may be.
(6) In Parts 2 to 4 , a reference to a reasonable expectation shall be interpreted having regard objectively to the nature and purpose of the contract concerned, the circumstances of the case and the usages and practices of the parties to the contract.
Digital content contracts and digital service contracts
Chapter 1
Interpretation and application (Part 3)
Interpretation (Part 3)
48. (1) In this Part—
“Digital Directive” means Directive (EU) 2019/770 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 20196 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services;
“digital environment” means hardware, software and any network connection used by the consumer to access or make use of digital content or a digital service;
“free of charge” means free of any costs necessarily incurred in remedying the lack of conformity of digital content or a digital service with the digital content contract or digital service contract, including the cost of labour and materials;
“integration” means the linking and incorporation of digital content or a digital service with the components of the consumer’s digital environment in order for the digital content or digital service to be used in accordance with sections 53 to 55 ;
“number-independent interpersonal communications service” means an interpersonal communications service which does not connect with publicly assigned numbering resources, namely, a number in national or international numbering plans, or which does not enable communication with a number in national or international numbering plans;
“price” means money or a digital representation of value that is due in exchange for the supply of digital content or a digital service.
(2) A reference in this Part to digital content or a digital service being in conformity with a digital content contract or digital service contract is to be construed in accordance with section 52 (2).
(3) A word or expression used in this Part that is also used in the Digital Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Part as it has in the Digital Directive.
(4) A court shall construe this Part in a manner that gives effect to the Digital Directive, and for this purpose the court shall have regard to the provisions of the Digital Directive, including its preamble.
Application (Part 3)
49. (1) Subject to subsections (3) to (7) and sections 65 , 70 , 71 and 72 , this Part applies to any contract specified in subsection (2) that is concluded between a trader and a consumer on or after the day on which this section comes into operation.
(2) The contracts referred to in subsection (1) are—
(a) a digital content contract,
(b) a digital service contract,
(c) where a single contract between a trader and a consumer relates to—
(i) the supply of digital content or a digital service (the supply of such content or such a service or, as the case may be, both such content and such a service being referred to in this subsection as the “digital supply”), and
(ii) the supply of other goods or a service,
that contract so far as relating to the digital supply, and
(d) any contract where the digital content or digital service which the trader supplies or undertakes to supply to the consumer is developed in accordance with the consumer’s specifications.
(3) This Part (other than sections 51 and 60 ) applies to any tangible medium which serves exclusively as a carrier of digital content.
(4) This Part does not apply to any of the following contracts between a trader and a consumer:
(a) a service contract;
(b) a contract for the supply of an electronic communications service (other than a contract for the supply of a number-independent interpersonal communications service);
(c) a contract for the supply of healthcare;
(d) a contract for the supply of a gambling service;
(e) a contract for the supply of a financial service;
(f) a contract under which—
(i) a trader supplies software under a free and open-source licence, and
(ii) the consumer does not pay a price and any personal data provided by the consumer, other than the personal data that was processed for the purpose of supplying the digital content or digital service, is processed by the trader only for the purpose of improving the security, compatibility or interoperability of that software;
(g) a contract for the supply of digital content where the digital content is made available to the general public other than by signal transmission as part of a performance or event, including digital cinematographic projections;
(h) a contract for digital content provided by a public sector body in accordance with the European Union (Open Data and Re-use of Public Sector Information) Regulations 2021 ( S.I. No. 376 of 2021 ).
(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(a), it is immaterial whether digital forms or means are used by a trader—
(a) to produce the output of the service to which the contract relates, or
(b) to deliver or transmit the service to a consumer.
(6) This Part does not apply to digital content or a digital service which is—
(a) incorporated in or inter-connected with goods with digital elements, and
(b) supplied with the goods under a sales contract,
irrespective of whether the digital content or digital service is supplied by a trader or any other person.
(7) In determining for the purposes of subsection (6) whether the supply of incorporated or inter-connected digital content or an incorporated or inter-connected digital service forms part of a sales contract, the digital service or digital content shall be presumed to form part of the sales contract whether or not the consumer is required to consent to a licensing agreement with a person other than the trader in order to access the digital content or digital service concerned.
(8) A reference in Chapter 2 or 3 of this Part to both a digital content contract and a digital service contract shall be construed as a reference to any contract to which this Part applies.
(9) Nothing in this Part shall affect the entitlement of a consumer to terminate a contract under section 29 (2) or 93 (2).
(10) In this section—
“gambling service” means a service that involves wagering a stake with pecuniary value in games of chance (including those with an element of skill, such as lotteries, casino games, poker games and betting transactions) by electronic means or any other technology for facilitating communication at the individual request of a recipient of such a service;
“healthcare” has the same meaning as it has in the European Union (Application of Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. No. 203 of 2014 ).
Chapter 2
Consumer rights in digital content contracts and digital service contracts
Right to supply digital content or digital service
50. (1) Where digital content or a digital service is to be supplied under a digital content contract or digital service contract, the trader shall ensure that the trader has the right to supply the digital content or digital service to the consumer at the time at which it is to be supplied.
(2) Without prejudice to any enactment or rule of law affecting the validity of the digital content contract or digital service contract, where the trader does not have the right to supply the digital content or digital service in accordance with subsection (1), the consumer shall have the right to terminate the digital content contract or digital service contract.
(3) Where the consumer has the right to terminate the digital content contract or digital service contract under subsection (2) and wishes to exercise that right—
(a) the consumer shall exercise that right in accordance with section 66 , and
(b) the trader shall comply with the obligations in section 67 .
(4) In case of dispute, it shall be for the trader to show that the trader had the right to supply the digital content or digital service.
Duty to supply digital content or digital service
51. (1) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract is concluded between a trader and a consumer, the trader shall supply the digital content or digital service to the consumer in accordance with the contract.
(2) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract is concluded between a trader and a consumer, the trader shall, except where the parties have agreed otherwise, supply the digital content or the digital service to the consumer without undue delay after the conclusion of the contract.
(3) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a continuous supply of the digital content or digital service for a period specified in the contract, the trader shall supply the digital content or digital service to the consumer for that period.
(4) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for the supply of the digital content or digital service on more than one occasion during the period for which the contract subsists, the trader shall supply the digital content or digital service to the consumer on each of those occasions.
(5) A trader shall be deemed to supply digital content or a digital service in accordance with this section where—
(a) the digital content or any means that is suitable for accessing or downloading the digital content is made available or accessible to—
(i) the consumer, or
(ii) a physical or virtual facility chosen by the consumer for that purpose,
or
(b) the digital service is made accessible to—
(i) the consumer, or
(ii) a physical or virtual facility chosen by the consumer for that purpose.
(6) A consumer shall not be deemed to have chosen a physical or virtual facility under subsection (5) if—
(a) the facility is under the trader’s control or is contractually linked to the trader, or
(b) the facility was the only facility offered by the trader to receive or access the digital content or digital service.
(7) Where a trader fails to supply digital content or a digital service to the consumer in accordance with this section—
(a) the trader shall be liable for that failure, and
(b) the consumer shall have the right to the remedies specified in section 60 .
Digital content or digital service to be in conformity with digital content contract or digital service contract
52. (1) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract is concluded between a trader and a consumer, the trader shall supply digital content or a digital service to the consumer that is in conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract.
(2) Digital content or a digital service is in conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract if the digital content or digital service—
(a) complies with the requirements of sections 53 and 54 , and
(b) does not fall to be treated as not being in conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract under section 55 .
(3) Where the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader is not in conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract concerned, the consumer shall have the right to the remedies specified in Chapter 3 of this Part.
(4) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a continuous supply of the digital content or digital service for a period specified in the contract—
(a) a short-term interruption of the supply of the digital content or digital service—
(i) that, having regard to the type and purpose of the digital content or digital service and the circumstances and nature of the contract, is more than negligible, or
(ii) that recurs,
shall be deemed to constitute a lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract, and
(b) the consumer shall have the right to the remedies specified in Chapter 3 of this Part.
(5) Where a failure to comply with—
(a) any requirement imposed by or under the Data Protection Act 2018 , or
(b) any requirement imposed by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 20167 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation),
constitutes a lack of conformity of the digital content or digital service with the digital content contract or digital service contract, the consumer shall have the right to the remedies specified in Chapter 3 of this Part.
Subjective requirements for conformity with digital content contract or digital service contract
53. (1) Digital content or a digital service supplied under a digital content contract or digital service contract shall—
(a) be of the description, quantity and quality, and possess the functionality, compatibility, interoperability, accessibility, continuity, security and other features, specified in the digital content contract or digital service contract,
(b) be fit for any particular purpose for which the consumer requires it—
(i) that the consumer made known to the trader at the time of, or before, the conclusion of the digital content contract or digital service contract, and
(ii) that the trader has accepted,
(c) be supplied with all accessories, instructions, including on the installation or integration of the digital content or digital service, and customer assistance as specified in the digital content contract or digital service contract, and
(d) be updated as specified in the digital content contract or digital service contract.
(2) The information which the trader is required to provide to the consumer in a distance contract or an off-premises contract under section 103 , 104 or 106 shall form part of the digital content contract or digital service contract.
(3) Digital content or a digital service supplied under a digital content contract or digital service contract that is a distance contract or an off-premises contract shall comply with any term of the contract deriving from the information referred to in subsection (2) that is additional to the requirements of subsection (1).
(4) Where the digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a continuous supply of digital content or a digital service for a period specified in the contract, the digital content or digital service shall comply with the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) during that period.
Objective requirements for conformity with digital content contract or digital service contract
54. (1) Digital content or a digital service supplied under a digital content contract or digital service contract shall—
(a) be fit for all of the purposes for which digital content or digital services of the same type would normally be used, taking into account so far as relevant any enactment or rule of law, European Union law, technical standards or, in the absence of such technical standards, applicable sector-specific codes of conduct,
(b) comply with any trial version or preview of the digital content or digital service that the trader made available to the consumer before the conclusion of the digital content contract or digital service contract,
(c) be supplied along with any accessories and instructions, including on the installation or integration of the digital content or digital service, that the consumer may reasonably expect to receive, and
(d) be of the quantity, and possess the qualities and performance features (including in relation to functionality, compatibility, accessibility, continuity and security) normal for digital content or digital services of the same type that the consumer may reasonably expect given the nature of the digital content or digital service and taking into account any public statement in relation to the digital content or digital service made by, or on behalf of, the trader or any other person constituting a previous link in the chain of transactions relating to the digital content contract or digital service contract, particularly in advertising or on labelling.
(2) The trader shall not be bound by any public statement referred to in subsection (1)(d) if the trader shows that—
(a) the trader was not, and could not reasonably have been, aware of the public statement in question,
(b) at the time of the conclusion of the digital content contract or digital service contract, the public statement had been corrected in the same way as it had been made (or in a comparable way), or
(c) the decision of the consumer to acquire the digital content or digital service could not have been influenced by the public statement.
(3) Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, digital content or a digital service shall be supplied in the most recent version available at the time of the conclusion of the contract.
(4) The trader shall ensure that during the relevant period the consumer is—
(a) informed of the availability of, and
(b) supplied with,
any update (including a security update) that is necessary for the digital content or digital service to be in conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract.
(5) Where—
(a) the consumer fails to install within a reasonable time an update supplied by the trader in accordance with subsection (4),
(b) the trader informed the consumer of the availability of the update and the consequences of a failure of the consumer to install it, and
(c) the failure of the consumer to install the update, or the incorrect installation of the update by the consumer, was not due to shortcomings in the installation instructions provided by the trader,
the trader shall not be liable for any lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract resulting solely from the failure to install the relevant update.
(6) Where the digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a continuous supply of digital content or a digital service for a period specified in the contract, the trader shall ensure that the digital content or digital service is in conformity with the contract during that period.
(7) There shall be no lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract under subsection (1) or (4) if, at the time of the conclusion of the contract—
(a) the consumer was specifically informed that a particular characteristic of the digital content or digital service deviated from the requirements of the subsection concerned, including a lack of conformity with the contract caused by a restriction resulting from a violation of an intellectual property right or any other right of a third person, and
(b) the consumer expressly and separately accepted that deviation.
(8) In case of dispute, it shall be for the trader to show that the consumer—
(a) was specifically informed that a particular characteristic of the digital content or digital service deviated from the requirements of subsection (1) or (4), and
(b) expressly and separately accepted that deviation when concluding the contract.
(9) In this section, “relevant period”, in relation to a digital content contract or digital service contract, means—
(a) where the contract provides for a continuous supply of the digital content or digital service for a period specified in the contract, that period, or
(b) where the contract provides for a single act of supply or a series of individual acts of supply of the digital content or digital service, such period as the consumer may reasonably expect, given the type and purpose of the digital content or digital service and taking into account the circumstances and nature of the digital content contract or digital service contract.
Incorrect integration of digital content or digital service
55. Any lack of conformity with a digital content contract or digital service contract resulting from the incorrect integration of the digital content or digital service into the consumer’s digital environment shall be treated as a lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract for the purposes of this Part if—
(a) the digital content or digital service was integrated by the trader or a person acting on behalf of the trader, or
(b) the digital content or digital service was intended to be integrated by the consumer and the incorrect integration was due to shortcomings in the integration instructions provided by the trader.
Implied terms of digital content contract or digital service contract
56. Sections 50 and 53 to 55 shall be implied into every digital content contract or digital service contract and shall have effect as if they were terms of such a contract.
Third party rights
57. Without prejudice to section 54 , where a restriction resulting from a violation of any right of a third person, in particular an intellectual property right, prevents or limits the use in accordance with sections 53 to 55 of digital content or a digital service supplied under a digital content contract or digital service contract, the consumer shall be entitled to pursue the remedies specified in Chapter 3 of this Part.
Liability of trader under digital content contract or digital service contract
58. (1) Where a digital content contract or a digital service contract is concluded between a trader and a consumer, the trader shall be liable to the consumer for any failure to supply the digital content or digital service in accordance with section 51 .
(2) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a single act of supply, or a series of individual acts of supply, of digital content or a digital service, the trader shall be liable for any lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract, including any lack of conformity resulting from a violation of an intellectual property right or any other right of a third person, which exists at the time of supply of the digital content or digital service.
(3) Where an update is supplied by the trader or a person other than the trader under a digital content contract or digital service contract that provides for a single act of supply, or a series of individual acts of supply, of digital content or a digital service, the trader shall be liable for any lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract—
(a) caused by the update which exists at the time of supply or installation of the update, or
(b) caused by the failure of the trader to supply an update in accordance with section 54 (4) at the time the update should have been supplied.
(4) Where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a continuous supply of digital content or a digital service for a period specified in the contract, the trader shall be liable for a lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract that occurs or becomes apparent during that period.
(5) The consumer’s right to a remedy in respect of a lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract for which the trader is liable under this section shall apply for 6 years from—
(a) in the case of a digital content contract or digital service contract which provides for a single act of supply of digital content or a digital service, or a series of such acts, the time of the supply of the digital content or digital service, and
(b) in the case of a digital content contract or digital service contract which provides for a continuous supply of the digital content or digital service for a period specified in the contract, the time at which the lack of conformity occurs or becomes apparent during that period.
(6) The consumer’s right to a remedy in respect of a failure to supply digital content or a digital service under a digital content contract or digital service contract for which the trader is liable under this section, shall apply for 6 years from the time at which the trader was required to supply the digital content or digital service in accordance with section 51 .
Burden of proof under digital content contract or digital service contract
59. (1) The burden of proof as to whether digital content or a digital service was supplied in accordance with section 51 shall be on the trader.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), where a digital content contract or digital service contract provides for a single act of supply, or a series of individual acts of supply, of digital content or a digital service, the burden of proof as to whether the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader was in conformity with the contract at the time of supply shall be on the trader for a lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract which becomes apparent during the period of 12 months beginning with the supply of the digital content or digital service.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), where the digital content contract or digital service contract provides for the continuous supply of digital content or a digital service for a period specified in the contract, the burden of proof as to whether the digital content or digital service was in conformity with the contract during that period shall be on the trader for a lack of conformity with the contract which becomes apparent during that period.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) shall not apply where the trader—
(a) shows that the digital environment of the consumer is not compatible with the technical requirements of the digital content or digital service, and
(b) informed the consumer of such requirements in a clear and comprehensible manner before the conclusion of the contract.
(5) Subject to subsection (6), the consumer shall co-operate with the trader, to the extent reasonably possible and necessary, to ascertain whether the cause of the lack of conformity with the digital content contract or digital service contract of the digital content or digital service at the times specified in section 58 (1) to (4) lay in the consumer’s digital environment.
(6) The obligation on the consumer to co-operate under subsection (5) shall be limited to the technically available means which are least intrusive for the consumer.
(7) Where—
(a) the consumer fails to co-operate as required by subsection (5), and
(b) the trader informed the consumer of the technical requirements of the digital content or digital service in a clear and comprehensible manner before the conclusion of the digital content contract or digital service contract,
the burden of proof as to whether the lack of conformity with the contract existed at the times specified in section 58 (1) to (4) shall be on the consumer.
(8) Nothing in this section shall prevent or restrict a consumer from exercising a remedy after the expiry of the period of 12 months beginning with the date of supply of the digital content or digital service.