The law is active since July 2003. There were a lot of buzz among e-commerce companies and shareware developers about it.

The changes eliminate an existing competitive distortion by obliging non-EU suppliers to charge VAT as EU suppliers when they are providing electronic services to EU non taxable persons, something which EU businesses had been actively seeking for some time.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/traders/e-... (official website)

Article:

http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/2194111

Also:

http://www.avangate.com/articles/software-vat-123.htm

Private customers (consumers) in EU countries must be charged VAT for electronically supplied services and products, both by EU and non-EU providers.

...

Non-EU companies that trade with European consumers (private customers) need to register and account for VAT.