Electronic Commerce Response - Essay Example

Electronic Commerce Response What is the impact of electronic commerce on the entire US legal system. The growing interest in e-commerce and the US legal environment may be attributed to the fact that in the last decade or so, e-commerce law has come to be widely viewed as an area of considerable economic and social importance. The development of e-commerce has resulted in the rapid growth of e-business in the US and changes in all aspects of traditional business operations which increase the importance of new legal rules and have changed the entire US legal system caused "a rush to enact laws" (Legal Regulation, 1998).

Primarily, the US legal system adapts new issues arisen from e-commerce and virtual relations. It revised many legal issues such as privacy, protection, ownership, etc. E-commerce has changed the role and nature of legal obligations between the parties. Virtual economic transactions become legal and equal to traditional commerce. "President Bush has made the security of every American one of his highest priorities and this certainly includes cyber security" (Israel, 2002). The US legal system adopts regulations for e-trade agreements and e-signs.

For instance, a decade ago, it has been impossible to file a suit without hard copies of the documents and supportive evidence, but today e-documents and agreements become more common in courts than hard copies. "The US government promotes policies to ensure that businesses and consumers can enter into legal agreements online that will be recognized by the courts if something goes wrong" (Israel, 2002). New forms of taxation and physical characteristics of products have been adopted to protect traditional and e-commerce. 2. The impact of e-commerce on the global environment.

E-commerce makes it possible to take global legal regulations to another level providing international law based on protection and fair business relations. The main areas which have been developed include: authenticity, protecting the privacy of consumers, security of e-commerce participants, and universal access. The legal regulations of E-commerce have received the most attention from the general public. The main areas of global legal environment include: recognition of electronic signatures, protection electronic data, licences and patent law, cryptography.

The necessity of new strict regulations in global legal environment was caused by the fact that it is difficult to regulate e-business. The impact of e-commerce on legal environment can be explained by the fact that up to that time "the formulation of the law has been an evolutionary process", but e-commerce forces to "apply current legislation or enact new legislation specifically formulated to meet the challenge of electronic commerce" (Legal Regulation, 1998). The absence of national boundaries within E-commerce requires international legislation to protect global sellers and buyers.

In spite traditional forms, global legal system is "responsible for cross-border transaction" (Legal Regulation, 1998). Increasing the opportunity for improving international service, absence of strict regulations within global legal environment increases the risk of fraud or abuse. In general, the impact of e-commerce on global legal environment includes complex dilemma decisions (domestic and international), within which assessment of the alternative courses of action called for intensive study.

E-commerce highlights new problem areas and requires immediate legal regulations to meet the needs of changing environment. References1. Israel, Cr. [remarks] (2002), Technology Administration Beyond the Dot Com Bubble: Supporting Global E-Commerce and Sharing the Promise of Technology. Retrieved 29 Oct 2005 from: http://www.technology.gov/Speeches/p_CI_021121_GlobalTech.htm2. "Legal Regulation of Electronic Commerce". (1998) JILT. (3). Retrieved 29 Oct 2005 from: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/1998_3/swindells/