E-Commerce Law - Thesis Proposal Example

E-commerce Law INTRODUCTION Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is fundamentally regarded as a procedure of interchanging valuable information regarding business through internet networks. It is recognized as a process of executing business activities on a global context with the application of internet medium. In this similar context, there must lay certain effective rules as well as regulations on the basis of which different business operations are conducted through e-commerce. The success of e-commerce can be recognized to be dependent of legal frameworks that assist in performing all virtual transactions along with contracting in accordance with certain legal procedures. The legal structure of e-commerce law has been viewed to protect as well as to support the customers and merchants from experiencing or practicing any fraudulent practice or illegal business. It has been apparently observed that there are several national as well as international laws and conventions for the development of regulatory bodies in order to seek that e-commerce activities are performed in an efficient manner. E-commerce is an essential element for the progress of ‘small and medium sized enterprises’ (SMEs) in the present technologically, advanced and globalized business world (Islam “E-Commerce: Laws and Cyber Crimes”). THESIS STATEMENT This paper intends to analyze the importance of e-commerce law in order to execute business operations in a legal manner. Moreover, various important aspects relating to e-commerce law will also be discussed further. DIMENSIONS OF E-COMMERCE LAW In e-commerce environment, business operations are often executed in three different forms that include ‘Business-to-Business’ (B2B), ‘Business-to-Consumer’ (B2C), ‘Consumer-to-Consumer’ (C2C) and ‘Consumer-to-Business (C2B). In this regard, B2B is a process of executing business activities amid business organizations without any intermediary. B2C implies the procedure of conducting business activities or transactions with consumers in relation to products or services by different business organizations (Gillies 26). C2C signifies the process of executing business operations amid two consumers performing business transactions directly. C2B is another process of executing business activities in which products or services are sold to business organizations by consumers (Eserveglobal, “e-Commerce Models”; Mann, “Global Electronic Commerce: Issues & Policies for Developing Countries”). In order to determine the dimensions of e-commerce law, it has been apparently observed that the law concerning e-commerce is segregated into different regulations as well as policies. The different regulations that can be viewed relating to e-commerce law include contract law, ‘consumer protection law’, competition law, labeling law, copyright law, responsibility, money transfer, data protection and cartel law. With this concern, Contract law implies a contract which is developed between business transactions and consumers with the objectives of offering the consumers with provisions to appear before court in case of any dispute with regard to procurement as well as quality concern in relation to products or services purchased. On the other hand, ‘Consumer protection law’ within the context of e-commerce provides legal and regulatory policies in order to protect the rights of the consumers involved with making online business transactions. This law settles disputes that generally arise from making any online transaction amid the consumers in relation to the procurement of products or services by them (Winn 15-177). Competition law offers rules as well as regulations in order to stabilize the level of competition amid business organizations involved with the execution of online transactions. This law protects the consumers from intense competition by facilitating them with switching costs as well as network externalities and lessening any sort of barrier. Conversely, labeling law is viewed to be a legal provision of e-commerce law intending towards protecting the trademarks of products or services that are offered by different business organizations to the customers by different internet medium. Copyright law is often implemented in e-commerce settings with the intention of ascertaining the consumers that the services or products offered to them are authorized under certain law or legal acts (Spindler and Borner 20-66). There prevail certain laws that are seemed to be applicable under the notion of money transfer within e-commerce setting. These laws concerning the idea of money transfer specifies that payments which are performed through credit cards or other electronic procedures are protected so that the anonymous use of these electronic cards is minimized by a certain degree. The data protection law of e-commerce is formulated as well as implemented on a global prospect with the intention of safeguarding the data or information which is available through online medium. Cartel law denotes that the business transactions are executed in a transparent and an efficient manner with the objective of maintaining competition and safeguarding consumers along with business organizations involved with performing online businesses (Spindler and Borner 20-66). From the above analysis, it can be viewed that the aforementioned e-commerce laws have been formulated and needs to be followed with the intention of assisting different organizations to execute their respective online business related operations effectively in the worldwide market segments. Internet services and e-commerce are used substantially in the global context where online business transactions are performed with minimum or no tax charges on sales in many nations. In this regard, imposing sales taxes on the internet transactions will result in reducing the numbers of online buyers and may also unfavorably affect the growth of internet and e-commerce (Goolsbee, “In a World without Borders: The Impact of Taxes on Internet Commerce”). But taxes are required to be imposed as online business transactions are performed on a cross border and international basis. Various countries adopt different taxation policies with the objective of enhancing the ‘Gross Domestic Productivity’ (GDP) of a country. Thus, government authorities should charge appropriate taxes which may not affect the e-commerce and online users, but may improve the GDP of a country (Basu 4). INFLUENCING FACTORS OF E-COMMERCE LAW E-commerce has acquired immense prominence in this contemporary era due to the introduction as well as the development of various pioneering technologies. It is worth mentioning that the aspect of ‘Information and Communication technology’ (ICT) is a key factor accountable for the development as well as the growth of e-commerce in the present business scenario. Furthermore, with the growing aspects of globalization along with internationalization and the mounting conduct of international trade activities have eventually facilitated different companies to execute their respective online business activities in worldwide market segments effectually (Dehkordi, Shahnazari and Noroozi, “A Study of the Factors that Influence the Acceptance of e-Commerce in Developing Countries: A Comparative Survey between Iran and United Arab Emirates”). The development in technologies within the setting of e-commerce has facilitated business organizations to produce innovative products. Moreover, these innovative products with the assistance of advanced technologies are offered to worldwide market segments with better information and time efficient manner. It has been apparently observed that information technology (IT) has assisted towards the development of an economy by a greater level. It has been viewed that The IT sector has expanded immensely as compared to others in this competitive landscape due to broader adoption along with execution of advanced technologies. There are various factors which can be recognized to be the imperative influencing factors towards the development of e-commerce. These factors comprise human, institutional and technological factor. Human factor is important for the growth of market conditions and is regarded as a vital constituent of marketplace. The institutional factor is referred to the objectives which are formulated as well as implemented concerning the adoption of innovative technologies. It can be affirmed from a broader perspective that latest technologies should be adopted with the intention of meeting the expectations of customers efficiently (Mann, Eckert and Knight 41). The increased usage of internet services for shopping, social networking and business transactions are required to be regulated effectively in order to minimize the conduct of cybercrime or any other anti-social activity. Specially mentioning, the presence of hackers may lead to various cybercrimes which include theft of important data or information among others. Hacking activities have risen to an immense extent which has further led to the increase of cybercrime. In this respect, hacker crackdown was initiated in the year 1990 on a nationwide basis in the US, in order to crackdown computer hackers executing activities legally. Consequently, hackers were arrested for committing criminal offences in relation to leakage of important information with the objective of minimizing cybercrime (Brinson and Radcliffe 1-210; Sterling, “The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier”). With the development of internet services in e-commerce setting, it has been viewed that problems relating to intellectual property which comprises graphics, trademark and copyright among others have raised extensively (Ferrera 1-251). With this concern, e-commerce law is formulated as well as implemented worldwide with the intention of protecting the users or the consumers and most significantly the business organizations towards successfully performing different e-commerce linked activities. Moreover, e-commerce law has been formulated owing to the reason that business transactions are commenced in a suitable manner without having any privacy loss and the conduct of crime. ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF E-COMMERCE E-commerce is required to be regulated as well as managed appropriately with the aim of seeking that the business transactions are executed ethically in order to protect the rights of consumers as well as business organizations. In the worldwide business market segment, legal as well as ethical issues are recognized to be an important aspect for the advancement of e-commerce law. It has been apparently observed that there pertain huge figure of issues in relation to privacy as well as intellectual property which needs to be mitigated at large. Ethical issues mainly arise in different business organizations wherein employees are observed to use e-mail or any other internet service for conducting any personal business. In this respect, business organizations are required to adopt policies as well as regulations on the basis of which e-mail and internet services should be used only for office work related purposes in order to eliminate any sort of malpractice. Moreover, companies ought to seek that consumers are offered with quality assured products or services through conducting online transactions (Anderson, “Morals in Trade and Commerce”; Baum, “E-mail in the Workplace and the Right of Privacy”; Simmers and Anandarajan 70-81). CONCLUSION The concepts of globalization, international trade and development of technology have assisted towards the advancement of e-commerce. Moreover, the progress of internet services and IT has assisted towards performing online business transactions effectively within the context of e-commerce. E-commerce is performed through B2B, C2C, B2C and C2B. These are various processes through which products or services are interchanged through online transactions. In order to protect as well as to safeguard online business operations, e-commerce law has been formulated and implanted on a global context. The expansion of online business transactions and internet services has facilitated businesses to offer products and/or services in the worldwide market segments. ICT and IT are determined to be the major factors responsible for the development of e-commerce. Organizations should seek that business transactions are executed in an appropriate as well as in an ethical manner. Thus, it can be concluded that with effectual execution of e-commerce law, business organizations conducting online operations would be benefited by a significant level in terms of attaining greater profitability and sustaining in this competitive landscape. Works Cited Anderson, Frank B. Morals in Trade and Commerce. Files, 2009. Web. 2 June. 2013. . Basu, Subhajit. Global Perspectives on E-Commerce Taxation Law. United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Group, 2007. Print. Baum, Kevin J. “E-mail in the Workplace and the Right of Privacy.” Villanova Law Review 42.3 (1997): 1-32. Print. Brinson, J. Dianne and Mark F. Radcliffe. Internet Law and Business Handbook. United States: Ladera Press, 2000. Print. Dehkordi, Lotfollah Forouzandeh, Ali Shahnazari and Ali Noroozi. “A Study of the Factors that Influence the Acceptance of e-Commerce in Developing Countries: A Comparative Survey between Iran and United Arab Emirates.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business 1.6 (2011): 44-49. Print. “e-Commerce Models.” Files. Eserveglobal, n.d. Web. 2 June. 2013. . Ferrera, Gerald R. Cyberlaw: Your Rights in Cyberspace. United Kingdom: Thomson Learning, 2001. Print. Gillies, Lorna E. Electronic Commerce and International Private Law: A Study of Electronic Consumer Contracts. United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008. Print. Goolsbee, Austan. “In a World without Borders: The Impact of Taxes on Internet Commerce.” NBER Working Paper Series (1998): 2-29. Print. Islam, K. M. Baharul. E-Commerce: Laws and Cyber Crime. Challenges of Cyber Crime to e-commerce, 2013. Web. 2 June. 2013. . Mann, Catherine L. “Global Electronic Commerce: Issues & Policies for Developing Countries.” E-Commerce Workshop Sponsored by the Government of Bangladesh January 2001 (2001): 1-14. Print. Mann, Catherine L., Seu E. Eckert and Sarah Cleeland Knight. Global Electronic Commerce: A Policy Primer. United States of America: Peterson Institute, 2000. Print. Simmers, Claire A. and Murugan Anandarajan. Managing Web Usage in the Workplace: A Social, Ethical, and Legal Perspective. United States: Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2002. Print. Spindler, Gerald and Fritiof Borner. E-Commerce Law in Europe and the USA. United States: Springer, 2002. Print. Sterling, Bruce. “The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier”. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 6 (1993): 421-427. Print. Winn, Janes K. Consumer Protection in the Age of the Information Economy. United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006. Print. Read More