E-raamat: Law of Electronic Commercial Transactions: Contemporary Issues in the EU, US and China 2nd edition [Taylor & Francis e-raamat]

This volume considers the law of electronic commercial transactions in the European Union, US, and China. In the first section on electronic contracts, it examines the legal challenges to business and solutions to substantive contract law issues in the online environment, such as the validity of offer and acceptance by electronic means, the incorporation of terms and conditions into electronic business-to-business and business-to-customer sale/service contracts, error in electronic communications, and the battle of forms. It compares the most current international legislation (the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts 2005) with relevant legislation in the EU, US, and China. The second section, on online security, analyzes the valid forms of electronic signatures and authentication, the liability of Certificate Authorities, and the recognition of foreign certificates, including best practices for data privacy protection taking into account the current regulatory developments and conditions of informed consent for processing personal data, and research on legal challenges faced by new technologies like cloud computing and possible solutions to creating greater legal certainty through legal measures that balance different rights and consistency of protection in practice. It contends that international coordination and protocols can fix the balance between the free flow of data for stimulating economic globalization and the protection of fundamental data privacy rights to expedite the process of increasing trust and confidence in conducting business online, and that an appropriate notice and takedown mechanism can be a means for the implementation of internet-related rights protection prior to court litigation and out-of-court dispute resolution. The third section, which focuses on dispute resolution, examines factors for the determination of internet jurisdiction and applicable law in cases of choice and the absence of parties' choice, discussing the pressure of new technologies on the validity of jurisdiction and applicable law clauses for electronic commercial contracts and how legal barriers can be removed, also arguing that online dispute resolution can be developed as a first resort for civil and commercial internet-related disputes before court litigation and traditional alternative dispute resolution. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

The development of new technologies places new challenges to the interpretation and implementation of legislation in the information society. The recent deployment of service-oriented computing and cloud computing for online commercial activities has urged countries to amend existing legislation and launch new regulations. With the exponential growth of international electronic commercial transactions, a consistent global standard of regulating the legal effects of electronic communications, the protection of data privacy security and the effectiveness of Internet-related dispute resolution are motivating factors to build users’ trust and confidence in conducting cross-border business and their sharing information online.

The second edition of this book continues taking a ‘solutions to obstacles’ approach and analyses the main legal obstacles to the establishment of trust and confidence in undertaking business online. In comparing the legislative frameworks of e-commerce in the EU, US, China and International Organisations, the book sets out solutions to modernise and harmonise laws at the national, regional and international levels in response to current technological developments. It specifically provides information on the key legal challenges caused by the increasing popularity of service-oriented computing and cloud computing as well as the growing number of cross-border transactions and its relation to data privacy protection, Internet jurisdiction, choice of law and online dispute resolution. It considers how greater legal certainty can be achieved in cloud computing service contracts and other agreements resulted in service-oriented computing.

The second edition of Law of Electronic Commercial Transactions is a clear and up to date account of a fast-moving area of study. It will be of great value to legislators, politicians, practitioners, scholars, businesses, individuals, postgraduate and undergraduate students. It provides in-depth research into finding solutions to remove eight generic legal obstacles in electronic commercial transactions and offers insights into policy making, law reforms, regulatory developments and self-protection awareness.