E-commerce and the Law

2 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Overview of E-commerce Law The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions Main content Case: legal lssue related Intellectual Property in EC Customer Right Protection at EC

3 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End legal lssue related Case: legal lssue related

4 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Key Points Digital signatures and authentication. Contract and contract enforcement in E- commerce. Copyright protection. Domain name protection. Database protection. Customer privacy protection. Virtual property protection.

5 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Overview of E-commerce Law Concepts and Features of E-commerce Law  The Meaning of E-commerce Law  Broadly speaking E-commerce law encompasses all legal regulations which regulate commercial activities via digital communication. SStrictly speaking E-commerce law refers to aspects like recording of Internet communication and confirmation of the effect of digital signature, electronic authentication technology and its security criteria, authorization organization and its rights and duties.

6 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Overview of E-commerce Law  The Characteristics of E-commerce Law Features Internationality Openness Virtuality Complexity Technology

7 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Overview of E-commerce Law The Legal Issues for E-commerce  Civil and Criminal Issues  Other Legal Issues  Legal issues in E-commerce transaction  Electronic signature  E-commerce contract  Intellectual property protection in E-commerce  Copyrights protection  Domain names protection  Database protection  Consumer right protection in E-commerce  Consumer privacy protection  Virtual property protection

8 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions Electronic Signature Law of the People’s Republic of China ① clarifying the legal validity of electronic signature; ② specifying the technology and the conditions of legal principle needed for electronic signature; ③ making regulation on E-commerce certificate authorities (CA) and their activities; ④ defining the rights, responsibilities and the norm of the parties in electronic transaction and acts of electronic signature of CA; ⑤ prescribing the legal duty of the relevant government regulators.

9 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions Contract and Contract Fulfillment in EC  Contract in EC  Terms and Conditions in the EC (1) The location and identity of the vendor and his/her address in case of contract requiring payment in advance. (2) The nature and characteristics of the goods or services sold by the vendor. (3) The after tax price of the goods or service. (4) Delivery costs appropriately listed in the contract. (5) The arrangements for payment, delivery or any relative operating. (6) The existence of a right of the purchaser’s withdrawal. (7) The cost for distance communication, where it is calculated other than at the basic rate. (8) The validity of the offer for price time. (9) Where necessary, the validity of the minimum duration and permanency and recurrence of the contract.

10 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions  Key elements of the EC (1) Offer. (2) Acceptance. (3) Promises by both parties. (4) The intention to create legal relations  Contract Law of the People’ s Republic of China (1) The extension of contract forms from traditional written contract to data message. (2) The definition of the arrival time of E-commerce contract. (3) The definition of the place of effectiveness of E-commerce contract.

11 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions Digital Signatures and Authentication  Introduction to Digital Signature  Functions of Digital Signatures  Confirmation of the identity of the party entering into the contract.  Confirmation of the identified individual’s acceptance of the terms on offer.

12 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions  Requirements of a Digital Signature  Uniqueness such that it can only be created by the user.  Anti-counterfeiting.  Ease of authentication allowing the receiver of information authority to identify the message sender and digital signature creator even after a period of time.  Impossibility of denying the real authors of digital signatures.  Economy of generation such that the promotion and use of this technology should be inexpensive to ensure its commercial success.  Ease of generation.

13 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End The Law Issues in EC’s Transactions  Digital Signatures and the Authentication  Authentication by the recipient directly (direct signature authentication);  Authentication by the third party acting as referees/arbiters (indirect signature authentication).

14 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Intellectual Property in EC Internet Copyright  What Is Internet Copyright Works that are protected by copyright include text, software, graphics, music and multimedia combinations.  Copyright Works (1) Literary work (2) Computer programs (3) Titles of Web pages and hypertext links (4) Dramatic works (5) Musical composition (6) Works of art (7) Films (8) Broadcasting

15 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Intellectual Property in EC Domain Names Infringement 1. Speculation Deal 2. Character String Conflicts 3. Parody and Pre-emption 4.

16 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC Customer Privacy Protection  What Is Customer Privacy Protection Privacy protection refers to the rights of individuals to control the information held about them by third parties. SStrategies for Enhancing Customer Privacy at EC (1) Operating under aliases in communication and membership websites. (2) Using a passport scheme that introduces anonymity at the level of the individual transaction. (3) Exercising judgement about the information that is provided (particularly in newsgroup and discussion sites), with whom to do business online and what transactions to perform online. (4) Exercising appropriate virus hygiene. Viruses do not only damage local systems, they can also siphon data to another host.

17 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC  Privacy Legislation in EU (1) If the data is meant for transfer, it can be accessed from a website in the destination country. (2) If the destination country is within the EU then the transfer will not be affected by the eighth principle of the directive. (3) Names and addresses of customers for delivery purposes are exempt from the eighth principle in the directive. (4) The EU publishes a list of non-EU countries that provide an “adequate” protection of privacy. (5) Those wishing to export data to countries not on the EU- approved list of countries must conduct their own adequacy tests.

18 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC  Privacy Legislations in the US In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission requires companies to: (1) Warn users that the data will be collected. (2) Give users a chance to “opt-out” of giving information about themselves. (3) Give users access to their information so that they can modify it. (4) Provide adequate security for customers databases 。 (5) Provide access to a live customer contact.

19 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC FTC also requires companies to provide the following: (1) Accurate information. (2) Monitoring continuously. (3) Reviews privacy policy periodically. (4) Handling Consumer complaints.

20 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC  Privacy legislations in the UK In the UK the British Standard Institution set the Standard BS7799 that covers information security.  Privacy legislations in Australia In Australia, the Australian Privacy Act 1998 is the legislation through which privacy safeguards are protected.

21 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC Virtual Property Protection  What is Virtual Property  Virtual property usually refers to the “property” collected and compiled by Internet users or game players in their accounts in on- line games, such as “money”, “items”, “pets”.  Virtual property should be defined as digitalized, immaterialized form of property. The inmaterialization is the appearance in a form of non-real thing without concrete entities. Virtual property does not merely belong to on-line game, but should include , skype, or other communication products.

22 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC  The Characteristics of Virtual Property  The existence of virtual property is based on specific virtual social space, and thus depends on its context.  The form of existence of virtual property is digital record.  Virtual property has both value and user value.  Virtual property has scarcity to a certain degree.  Virtual property can be traded and transferred.  The acquisition of virtual property must be legal.  The time-limit of virtual property.

23 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Customer Right Protection at EC  The Civil Legal Protection of Virtual Property in China The legal protection to civil property in China mainly presents in the Constitution and General Principle of Civil Law, and the regulation of civil law to the protection of citizen’s private property has been more comprehensive.  The Criminal Legal Protection of Virtual Property in China The criminal legal protection to virtual property originates from the state validation of virtual property in civil law.

24 EC  E-commerce and the Law List     End Summary This chapter mainly introduces legal issues related to E-commerce in terms of the law questions in E- commerce’s transaction, intellectual property at E- commerce and customer right protection.