Kirsty Newman 18:48, 23 Oct 2004 (EST)
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National laws on e-commerce and online contracting are being developed in many countries, and although this appears to be a step forward in online regulation, these new laws being established within nations may create confusion and uncertainty (Kono, 2002). Therefore, in order to counter-balance the risk posed by legal diversity, international organisations have formed to develop uniform rules of electronic transactions.
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is made up of several working groups, one of which deals with e-commerce.
Contributions:
(See http://www.uncitral.org/en-index.htm)
The third contribution listed, the convention on e-contracting, aims to make issues of electronic contracts in Australia compatible with those of other countries, so that international contracts over the Internet will have less complications. Although it is only in draft stage, it points to how the law in this area is likely to be developed in the near future. The Draft Convention on Electronic Contracting also points to a more e-commerce convenient society in the future, as it aims to ‘eliminate legal obstacles to contract formation by the use of electronic means of communication… and is intended to clarify or adapt the traditional rules on contract formation to accommodate the realities of electronic contracting’ (UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce, 2002).
The Hague’s main target is to establish uniform conflict of law rules (Kono, 2002). (See http://www.hcch.net )
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Contributions:
1997 - Implementing the OECD Privacy Guidelines in the Electronic Environment
1998 – Electronic Commerce: Taxation Framework Conditions.
1999 – Draft of the Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce, which strongly promotes online dispute resolution.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has also begun projects for establishing uniform rules for online transactions. For example, in 2001 it formulated the Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the ‘Protection of Marks, and Other Industrial Property Rights in Signs on the Internet'.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is mainly devoted to the making of uniform rules of international trade between nations, but has begun to get involved with problems of electronic transactions.
There are two main problems with relying on uniform rules. Firstly, they can create uncertainty when different organisations make different laws that cover the same area. However, they do make a conscious effort to avoid overlap. The second problem is the speed in making uniform rules. In e-commerce change occurs relatively quickly, but the activities of these organistions is slow in comparison (Kono, 2002). For example, the project for the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures started in 1996 and was only finally agreed upon in 2001. Therefore, due to the lack of any uniform laws on the subject, countries established their own rules. For instance, Japan in 2000 established the Law Concerning Electronic Signatures and Certification Services, Law No. 102 of 2000.
Kono, T., Paulus, C., Rajak, H., (eds). (2002) 'Selected Legal Issues of E-Commerce', Kluwer Law International: The Hague, London, New York.
UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce 39th Session. (2002) 'Draft Convention on Electronic Contracting - Working paper 95' [Online]. Available: http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/seclaw/electronicpaper.html [Accessed 17 October 2004].
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Kirsty Newman 18:48, 23 Oct 2004 (EST)
