The conditions for the liability exemption of providers of mere conduit services should cover situations in which such providers play a passive role as a 'mere conduit' of information provided by third parties. Those conditions should be considered to be met where the provider initiates neither the transmission nor the selection of the recipient of the transmission, and does not select or modify the information contained in the transmission. Such activities include the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the information for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission. In accordance with the principle of effectiveness, the exemption from liability should not apply when a provider, while fully informed in accordance with the notice and take down procedures set out in this Regulation, fails to act expeditiously to remove or to disable access to illegal content. Nor should that exemption apply where a provider deliberately collaborates with a recipient of the service in order to engage in illegal activities. In order to benefit from the exemption, the provider should not be the instigator of an illegal activity nor deliberately cooperate with users to that effect, and it should not have knowledge of illegal activities or illegal information.