144 TOURISM LAW IN EUROPE entering into a contract between the supplier and the consumer by making available a promotion and professional distance selling system. Additionally, the contract was concluded by filling out a form drawn up by QXL and the contract was later confirmed by QXL. Moreover, QXL received a fee for each contract concluded. On the other hand, QXL argued that it should be compared to a physical newspaper offering advertisements. Furthermore, QXL had disclaimed any liability in its terms and conditions. None of these last arguments were agreed upon by the court. Consultants can also trigger the Danish intermediary rule. In the court ruling U 2000.2559 Ø (Eastern Regional Court), the court was of the opinion (however, without stating on what ground) that a lawyer met the criteria of the intermediary rule when intermediating a property sale between two peers. The lawyer handled the negotiation on behalf of the supplier (the seller of the house) and produced all documentation. It was without bearing that the consumer himself was represented by a legal advisor. Additionally, in statement no. 08/04028 from the Danish Consumer Ombudsman, the Ombudsman found that a business intermediating contracts between two peers was an active intermediary, seeing as it collected a fee for each contract and provided a payment system for the two parties. Despite the potentially wide scope of application of the intermediary rule, not many cases have been filed regarding the interpretation or enforcement of the rule. The authors of this contribution perceive that the intermediary rule is not well known by either consumers or suppliers. If you do not know your rights, you will not enforce them! 5.3.2. THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES In addition to transforming the peer-to-peer contract between the supplier and the consumer into a business-to-consumer contract, there is a consequence for the platform as well, if it is governed by the intermediary rule. In the aforementioned QXL case, the court ruled that as an active intermediary, QXL is obligated to follow the information duties set out in the relevant consumer protection legislation (in this case the Consumer Contract Act) (e.g. information about the right of withdrawal), as triggered by the transformed contract70. 70 The Danish law on e-commerce also includes a number of information duties. See for a general discussion in WENDEHORST, C., ‘Platform Intermediary Services and Duties under the E-Commerce Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive,’ EuCML, no 5, 2016 and in SANDFELD JACOBSEN, S., ‘Formidleransvaret i forbindelse med sociale tjenester på internettet,’ Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen, U2009B.291. See also case from the Consumer Ombudsman FOM 08/04028. Rognstad finds that the expectations to the role of the intermediary also can create a ground for liability for information for the intermediary. This
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