A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Palestine's law and jurisprudence.

According to Art. 2 of the Instructions No. 1 of 2009 on the Registration of the Data of Subscribers to Cellular Telecommunications Services, all licensees providing cellular telecommunications services are required to register a minimum set of subscriber data for mobile services and obtain a copy of the subscriber’s personal identification document. The minimum data to be recorded comprise the subscriber’s full name, national identification card or passport number, place of residence and work, and date and place of birth.

Palestine lacks a comprehensive regime for the protection of trade secrets.

There is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end-users, and it is not practised in the mobile sector or in the fixed sector, based on commercial agreements.

The government holds shareholdings in certain telecommunications operators. In particular, the State owns 31.7% of Ooredoo Palestine through the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) and approximately 7% of the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL), also through the PIF.

According to Art. 8(e)(4) of Instructions No. 1 of 2011 Regarding Protection of Competition in the Telecommunications Sector, the Regulator may require a dominant licensee to implement accounting separation in order to assess potential cross-subsidisation and to help identify other forms of anti-competitive conduct. Art. 8(1) of the Instructions sets out the procedure for determining whether an operator holds a dominant position. It is reported that the government is preparing regulations to operationalise regulatory accounting separation. Furthermore, it is also reported that functional separation is required by law; however, the specific legislative instrument establishing this obligation could not be identified in publicly available sources.

The State of Palestine has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments. In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

The country has a telecommunications authority: the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). However, it is reported that the decision making process of this entity is not fully independent from the government.

According to Art. 8 of the Public Procurement Law, the Council for Public Procurement Policies must give preference to local Palestinian products, contractors and consultants, and apply a preference margin for Palestinian producers and contractors when evaluating bids in international tenders. Annex (B) of Cabinet Decision No. (5) of 2014 on Public Procurement Regulations further provides that, for works contracts, procuring entities must grant a 7.5% margin of preference to domestic contractors, subject to specified conditions. Contractors seeking this preference are required to submit qualification data, including ownership information, to enable verification of their status as “domestic contractors” under the relevant classification.

It is reported that, although the public procurement law entered into force in 2014, it remains at a relatively early stage of implementation, and concerns persist regarding its integrity and transparency safeguards. The High Council for Public Procurement Policy reportedly continues to face challenges, including frequent requests from certain entities for exemptions to conduct direct procurement. Decisions of the Council of Ministers on tenders are also not systematically communicated to the High Council, hindering the consolidation of procurement data on the designated portal and delaying the implementation of an e-procurement strategy. Moreover, many government contracts involving the use of public resources, such as telecommunications, are reportedly not awarded through competitive tenders, and the resulting contracts with private operators have not been published.

The State of Palestine is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

According to Art. 3 of the Law on the Encouragement of Investment in Palestine, any Investor may invest in any sector of the Palestinian economy, unless it contravenes other laws.

According to Art. 38 of the Patent Law, every patent has the same legal effect against the Government as against any other person. However, any ministry may use a patented invention under conditions agreed with the patent holder and approved by the Minister of Finance or, in the absence of agreement, under conditions determined by the Minister of Justice or by a judge appointed for that purpose.

The State of Palestine is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The primary copyright framework applicable in the State of Palestine is the British Copyright Act 1911, which has been in force there since 1924. Pursuant to Art. 2 of the British Copyright Act 1911, copyright is not infringed by fair dealing with a work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review, or the preparation of a newspaper summary.