The definition of "telecommunication services is in §3 Nr. 24: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tkg_2004/__3.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tkg_2004

The definition of "telecommunication services is in §3 Nr. 24: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tkg_2004/__3.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tkg_2004/__3.html Translated "consist wholly or predominantly in the transmission of signals over telecommunications networks, including transmission services in broadcasting networks". I find it hard to argue that some piece of software can be a transmission service. From the other hand, GMail was considered a "telecommunication service" by a German court: https://www.noerr.com/de/newsroom/News/gmail-ist-ein-telekommunikationsdienst-im-sinne-des-tkg.aspx https://www.noerr.com/de/newsroom/News/gmail-ist-ein-telekom... Translated: https://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.noerr.com%2Fde%2Fnewsroom%2FNews%2Fgmail-ist-ein-telekommunikationsdienst-im-sinne-des-tkg.aspx https://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=ht... However there is an important difference: "Google Inc. therefore has its own switching technology (original "Vermittlungstechnik" - transmission tech) and therefore has, in any case, partial control over the signal transmission." An XMPP-client, in contrast does not have own transmission tech and has no control over signal transmission.