Intermediary services under the DSA: routing, caching, hosting

INTERMEDIARY SERVICES ACCORDING TO THE DSA – TRANSMISSION, CACHING, HOSTING, ONLINE PLATFORMS

category	Definition & Main Function	Typical Business Models / Examples	Duties
Mere Conduit	Transmission of data or network access without altering, storing or influencing the content of the data	Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) VPNs DNS & Resolvers Domain registry & registrars Interpersonal communication services (e.g. VoIP) Peering services Internet Backbone services ISPs	General due diligence obligations for intermediary services (Art. 11-15 DSA)
Caching	Automatic temporary buffering to increase the efficiency of data transfer	Proxies Reverse Proxies Content Delivery Networks (CDN) Application Delivery Controller (ADC) Streaming/Edge Caching Content Acceleration Services Page-Caching (Server)	General due diligence obligations for intermediary services (Art. 11-15 DSA)
Hosting	Storage and provision of content / applications for third parties on the Internet	Cloud-Computing Web Hosting E-mail Hosting Datenbank-Hosting Streaming-Hosting Plattform /Application /E-Commerce Hosting File Hosting	General due diligence obligations (Art. 11-15 DSA) + Additional obligations (Art. 16-18 DSA)
Online Platforms	Storage and public dissemination of information on behalf of users	Social networks Online marketplaces Booking platforms Comparison platforms	General due diligence obligations for intermediary services (Art. 11-15 DSA) + Additional obligations (Art. 16-18 DSA) + Additional obligations (Art. 19-32 DSA)