1 1 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. 11 E-Commerce & E-Business

2 2 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Introduction Contracts have been increasingly used over the internet for purchases and sale of goods, services as a license. These contracts have generally been referred to as “e-commerce”. However, strictly speaking not all agreements over the internet are “e-commerce”. Only transactions which involve the purchase and sale of goods and services over the internet are e- commerce. License agreements where no money is exchanged are on-line agreements.

3 3 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Computer and Internet Access in Australia

4 4 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Contracts on the web Types of contracts on the web TYPE 1 : E-commerce contract between a web-buyer and web- seller involving the purchase and sale of a good or service over the internet. TYPE 2 : License agreement between the web-hoster and web- user. No money is exchanged here and no good or service is purchased. TYPE 3: Purchase and sale of goods between two suppliers for the purposes of re-supply. Here there is no consumer.

5 5 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Contracts on the web cont… Characterising the different types E-Commerce Agreements: Contracts are e-commerce ventures involving consumers and web-sellers of goods and services. On-line Licence Agreements: Contracts are on-line licence agreements authorising web-users access to the company’s web-site. Typically there are no sales or purchases and no money is exchanged. The company is merely using the web-site for advertisements and publicity. E-Business Agreements: Contracts are e-business contracts and do not involve consumers. Typically they involve the purchase & sale for the purposes of re-supply.

6 6 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Elements of an E-Commerce & E-Business Contract Web Offer The offer on the web-site needs to be distinguished from non-offers such as invitations to treat. To determine whether an offer has been made use the reasonable person test (objective). Need to distinguish the non-offers: Web-advertisements Electronic price lists Electronic catalogues

7 7 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Elements of an E-Commerce & E-Business Contract cont… Web Acceptance The general rule is that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror. This general rule can be displaced in special circumstances. See: Acceptance by conduct A web-site user can accept by conduct by simply downloading material (documenting the purchase of goods/services) of the user’s web-site. Courts apply an objective test to interpret the actions of the web-site user

8 8 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Elements of an E-Commerce & E-Business Contract cont… Acceptance by mouse-click A web site user may reach a binding legal agreement by accepting the web site offer with a mouse-click. For the consumer to be bound the acceptance must be unequivocal and relate back to the offer. The owner of the web site must make sure that the web site is able to validate the terms of the offer from the viewer. Acceptance by This is the most problematic in terms of timing. When does an acceptance by take place? At the time of sending the (postal acceptance rule) or at the time of receipt (instantaneous method of acceptance)? No cases have decided the issue. The outcome will depend on the circumstances of the case.

9 9 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Electronic Transactions Legislation Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) Based on two principles: –Functional Equivalence –Technology Neutrality

10 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Domain names A domain name is a mnemonic, or plain English, expression connected to a numeric Internet Protocol address by the relevant domain name registry authority. There are various levels of domain names used on the Internet which include: Top Level Domain (TLD) such as ".com" or ".au“ Second level domain (SLD) such as "colesonline“ Third or Fourth level domain names which are linked to a specific internet server.

11 © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved. Functions served by domain names Domain names essentially serve the function of "location identifiers". If a company wants to establish a business on the worldwide web then it needs to register a domain name with an alphabetical address: In Australia the main registration body is Melbourne IT (or INA) which is currently responsible for the registration of.com.au domain names. For.com,.org, or.net domain names network solutions is responsible. Each country has a specific jurisdiction over domain names and this is recognised by the special suffix put at the end of the domain name: eg: Australia has.au.