E-Business and the Legal Issues

¶ … e-business and the legal issues that the company may face. It addresses national and international issues and what conflict of law would occur. In addition it determines which laws would pertain to the business and how the courts would most likely decide the cases.

The past three decades have taken the world to heights never before imagined in the technology arena. Today, with the click of a mouse one can manage their stocks, plan and purchase travel, and shop around the world and have the goods delivered to their door. This new found ability to use the Internet for so many purposes has opened an entirely new business genre. The e-business market has exploded in recent years and has grown faster than the legal departments of the world can keep up. E-businesses are selling products and services around the globe even though few boundaries and laws regarding their operation have been clearly defined.

When opening an e-business one needs to be aware of the possible legal issues the business may encounter and what possible solutions are available.

THE LEGAL ISSUES

Seminars are taking place around the globe to help bridge the gap between the e-business explosion and the delayed actions where the legal issues are concerned (Taking, 2005).

E-commerce businesses face challenges primarily because of the lack of geographic boundary in which they conduct their business. Their services and products are not only sold within different states but from nation to nation (Greif, 2000).

New legal developments are emerging quickly however, and today, e-businesses do have some blue prints to follow in the legal department of their company.

Three of many developments complicating e-commerce legal analysis are the ease of United Cancer Council; the Intermediate Sanctions portion of the Internal Revenue Code; and the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (Greif, 2000)."

In addition to tax issues e-businesses are facing issues with issues that have never before been faced in the corporate world. They include:

Liability for infringement

Damage to customers from privacy violations and failure of security

Damage to brand equity and loss of customer confidence

Complications from virtual contracts (E-commerce (http://www.aon.com/us/busi/risk_management/risk_consulting/ebusiness_risk/default.js)"

There are however many laws that have been developed for the sole purpose of governing e-commerce companies that override any local or regional laws that may be where the company is based.

Some of these laws include:

The Electronic Transaction Acts of 1999 for Australia businesses. This act allows electronic transactions to take place without an in person signature to be needed.

American has passed the same law on a federal level and today electronic signatures for the purpose of conducting e-business is a valid form of signature (What laws apply to e-business? (http://www.dcita.gov.au/ie/publications/2002/july/trusting_the_internet_-_a_small_business_guide_to_e-security/what_laws_apply_to_e-business).

Many businesses and nations are using something called the country of destination laws to determine which jurisdiction takes place in the case of a business dispute with an online company.

For the most part, the law allows the nation of Allowing transactions to be governed by the laws of the "country-of-destination" -- or the country of the buyer -- provides protection for consumers similar to those they would enjoy in making purchases at the corner drugstore. Unfortunately, online merchants could conceivably be responsible for complying with hundreds of laws in hundreds of countries (Country of Destination? (http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/4218.html)."

One French judge has ordered Yahoo to find a way to stop French residents from gaining access to the Nazi memorabilia auctions that they have on the site. Yahoo fought the order and there is currently a mediation feasibility study being conducted to determine whether it is even technically possible to do.

At the time, Yahoo! senior vice president Heather Killen said, "This case opens up broader issues on Internet jurisdiction -- whether one country has the jurisdiction to regulate the content of Web sites in another country (Country of Destination? (http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/4218.html)."

The Federal Trade Commission recommends that online companies let their customers know up front which nation's laws will apply in the case of a dispute.

The agency is also advocating setting up an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system that would provide consumers with an avenue for resolving disputes. The FTC said that the dispute resolution system could be set up in cyberspace, the one forum that is likely to be convenient for both parties (Country of Destination? (http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/4218.html)."