The legal decision means Germans now have the right to claim compensation from service providers if their Internet access is disrupted.

“Most people in Germany use the Internet daily. Thus, it has become an essential medium in the life of German society, the disruption of which has an immediate impact on the course of everyday life,” the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe stated.

The court made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his high-speed Internet connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009.