Development of Legal and Regulatory Systems in the EU - Essay Example

? Law and e-Commerce First Last Here Law and e-Commerce For centuries, business owners have constantly sought methods to increase operational profits. As industrialization made accessible the leveraging power of machinery, and robotics later allowed mass production to occur through the rapid, exact and precise repetition of simple tasks by automated instruments, the internet now allows local businesses to have a global consumer base. While the United Kingdom has adopted the European Union’s laws in regards to e-commerce in order to facilitate the development of this vital sector of the economy, I believe this was an essential first step to bolster consumer confidence in e-commerce, that it propelled the United Kingdom to become one of the leading electronic world economies and that it helped integrate e-commerce into the mainstream economy. For the first time in history, contracts can be routinely entered by parties who have never met, who have had no prior relationship, who do not know each other and who may often be located in different legal jurisdictions. When internet shopping was first introduced in the mid-90’s, these facts represented major hurdles to consumer confidence towards online retailers. Indeed, in a traditional shopping experience, the consumer is located on the premises of the retailer, can see the goods and services provided to others and can interact with staff and other shoppers during the process of making a shopping decision. Moreover, in the event of a problem with the goods or services purchased, the consumer can return to the premises and interact with the service desk, or even alert friends, family, the local authorities or perhaps the media in the event of unresolved issues. This level of extensive horizontal interaction and recourses is not only required to make the retailer more personable to the shopper and thereby secure, establish and propagate the business’s goodwill, it was also the key ingredient missing from online shopping in it’s early years, some of which is addressed by the United Kingdom’s e-commerce laws. The requirement for online businesses to provide their geographical address, contact information, business registration information and supervising regulatory or professional bodies (Business Link, n.d.) addresses many of these concerns, but above all gives the consumer i) the possibility to recognize, report and avoid recidivist fraudulent businesses, ii) the peace of mind that not only are the regulatory authorities watching, but iii) fraudulent businesses can be found out and prosecuted if needed. All these benefits synergize to bolster consumer confidence. As rapid technological advancements over the past decade have made powerful and versatile electronic devices accessible to the general public, the computer and electronic gadget culture has secured a foothold in all spheres of society. An extensive online culture has developed with social media, virtual friends, digital media and electronic hobbies of all kinds, and every single one of these phenomena has almost completely replaced their offline counterpart (CBC, 2011), especially in the younger generations that have grown-up with ready access to this culture. It was inevitable that this cultural shift would also transform other aspects of daily life, from becoming one of the leading causes of motor vehicle collisions to being able to do all banking, shopping and business meetings in the palm of one’s hand, wherever a wireless internet connection is available. As a direct result of consumer confidence bolstered by the regulatory framework, the United Kingdom has become one of the leading electronic economies of the world, both in terms of proportion of retail sales and amount spent per capita (Robinson, 2010). Just as the younger generation in the 80’s was a force pushing home entertainment systems and gaming consoles into every home and the younger generation in the 90’s pushed personal computers, high-speed internet and digital media into every household, the current younger generation is taking the online life to an entire new level. Parents and school authorities are now having to address cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and online plagiarism, while law enforcement agencies are struggling to cope with online fraud, virtual terrorism and digital copyrights. As the internet permeates every aspect of their life, today’s younger generation will drive the rapid expansion of e-commerce and online shopping over the next decade due to the familiarity and safety of these online activities afforded by the United Kingdom’s regulatory framework for e-commerce. One of the chief responsibilities of government is to provide fiscal incentives and physical as well as regulatory infrastructure to support a thriving economy. After all, the vast majority of government income consists of taxes levied against income, property and sales, all three of which are intimately connected through business activity and commercial enterprise. Since the regulatory framework and IT infrastructure deployed in the United Kingdom during the past decade have given consumers not only the means but the confidence to participate in e-commerce, it is not surprising to see e-commerce ranked as one of the largest industries in the United Kingdom today (Robinson, 2010). Indeed, the proportion of the United Kingdom’s GDP generated directly by the internet industry is already twice as large as that of the hotel and restaurant industry, larger than that of the utilities and transportation industries combined and is already almost as large as that of the financial sector (Robinson,2010). As with any new industry added to a national economy, this economic explosion has and will continue to impact other industries through synergistic growth. In fact, since e-commerce and online shopping have become a mainstream and legitimate industry of their own, support industries such as shipping and electronic payment processing have all benefited directly from the stream of goods and services transacted electronically, while partner industries such as advertising are growing rapidly through the drive of online businesses to attract more consumers and increase their goodwill, having made the internet advertising industry in the United Kingdom the second largest in the world (Robinson, 2010). By adopting the European Union’s laws regarding e-commerce, the United Kingdom has given consumers the confidence to transact online safely and efficiently, which has spurred tremendous growth in satellite industries and has had a colossal positive ripple effect throughout the United Kingdom’s economy. Then United Kingdom has taken bold first steps to make e-commerce a safe alternative to traditional commerce for many industries. The required disclosure of identifying information by providers of goods and services and the extent of implied contractual rights for the consumer have contributed to making e-commerce in the United Kingdom not only a world leader in terms of market size and transaction volume, but have also permitted e-commerce to blossom into a major industry contributing a large share of the GDP and driving the growth of its support and partner industries. As with every regulatory framework, adjustments will always be required to tackle unforeseen challenges and adapt to changing realities, and the first of such adjustments should be i) to submit SMS advertising to the regulatory framework and ii) specify the legal jurisdiction where litigation will occur in the event of conflicts between parties located in distinct jurisdictions. Perhaps the United Kingdom can become a world leader in harmonizing cross-jurisdictional jurisprudence and thereby take it’s internet industry to the world stage? References Business Link (n.d.). e-Commerce and the Law. Retrieved from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/ CBC (2011, March 25). HMV Mulls Sale of Canadian Arm. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/03/25/hmv-canada-sale.html Robinson, James (2010, October 28). UK's internet industry worth ?100bn – report. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/28/net-worth-100bn-uk Read More