Technology, Media, and Telecommunications

Crowell’s office in Brussels advises national and international clients on regulatory obligations, including licensing requirements, access to and the use of numbering capacity, lawful intercept obligations, data protection and retention requirements, contractual obligations and information requirements towards end-users, and value-added services.

We negotiate and draft complex agreements for our clients, such as MVNO, interconnection, international roaming, and site sharing agreements, and we advise clients in significant outsourcing and subcontracting projects.

We represent clients in high-profile litigation concerning electronic communications and regularly represent clients before all the relevant courts and regulatory bodies including the sector regulator BIPT/IBPT, the Ethical Commission for Telecommunications, the specialized chambers of the Brussels Court of Appeal, and the Mediation Service for the Telecommunications Sector.

We have impressive experience in the field of e-commerce and internet-related issues and advise our clients on internet service provider liability and online presence and services, including information obligations, e-advertising, e-contracting, online terms of use, and distance selling. We also represent telecommunication and social network companies invoking the mere conduit and/or hosting exemptions under e-commerce legislation.

Our team has set up global privacy compliance projects for multinational clients and advises on privacy issues arising in e-discovery, outsourcing, and digital direct marketing.

We support our clients in legal proceedings against their competitors and in their dealings with regulatory authorities. We have litigated landmark cases concerning internet service provider liability, both before the Belgian courts and before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

We represent software companies and purchasers of IT services in complex IT contracting and litigation matters. Our team also has in-depth technical knowledge, allowing us to handle TMT-related disputes involving a wide range of technologies, including direct cable injection, speech technology, databases, mobile internet, and 4G/5G technology.

Thanks to our IP lawyers’ combination of skill and experience across the full range of IP disciplines (including patents, supplementary protection certificates, trademarks, designs, trade secrets and copyrights), we are able to support all our TMT clients in their defence of their IP rights.  

We represent Belgium’s main cable operator, which is a service provider for quadruple play (fixed and mobile telephone, internet, and television services).

We support providers of both offline and online betting and gambling, and advise on regulatory compliance, market entry strategies, licensing requirements, and tendering procedures. We complement these services with advice on general commercial issues, such as consumer protection, advertising, privacy, portrayal rights and/or the use of trademarks. We provide clients from outside the betting and gambling sector with advice on promotional contests and campaigns to ensure their compliance with the legal framework on betting and gambling.

We also represent sports and media celebrities, film and television producers, record labels, music festivals, singer-songwriters, printed media companies, book publishers, advertising companies, and designers.