The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the world's leading industrialised countries. Located in Central Europe, it is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Germany is the largest European economy and the third largest economy in the world in real terms, placed behind the United States, and Japan According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is also the world's top exporter, ahead of the United States and China. Its major trading partners include France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands. Germany is the largest trading partner of most European countries.
Germany has full portability on telephone numbers. Premium Rate Numbers have to be applied at "Bundesnetzagentur", the German Telecom Regulator. For an application the applicant has to have a reachable German address (which kwak is suppliying for its clients). On 15 August 2003 a new law came into effect called "Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Missbrauchs von (0)190er/(0)900er Mehrwertdiensterufnummern" ("Law for the combat of misuse of (0)190/(0)900 value added service numbers").
The law contains the following regulations:
- Forced price notices for service providers
- Maximum price limits, legitimacy checks and automatic disconnects
- Registration of dialers
- Blocking of dialers
- Right of information for consumers from the Bundesnetzagentur
On 4 March 2004 the German Federal Supreme Court decided that fees for the usage of dialers do not have to be paid if it was used without the user's knowledge. Also only the service provider himself is able to collect the fees from callers unwilling to pay, not the carriers in between.
