Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada - Assignment Example

The researcher states that under Canadian law, a copyright owner has the right to choose between actual damages or statutory damages under the Copyright Act. Actual damages will be the amount lost as a result of infringement and statutory damages can expose Jane to liability for $20,000 for each individual program that has been illegally copied. Online contracting in Novia Scotia is regulated by the Electronic Commerce Act, which adopts the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act of Canada (UECA). Additionally, the UECA adopts the United Nations 1996 Model Law on Electronic Commerce and the Novia Scotia’s Electronic Commerce Act (2000) is nearly identical to the UECA model.

In the current scenario, the central issue of contention is whether Melvin is bound by the contract. The fundamental issues impacting online contracting are the common law concepts of offer, acceptance, and jurisdiction. Indeed Scassa & Deturbide highlight the central questions in online contracting being as follows: “Is an owner of a web site merely soliciting offers, or is an offer being made that is capable of being accepted? When and where is acceptance made? What impact do electronic agents have on the offer and acceptance paradigm?”. Additionally, Section 20(1) of the UECA as embodied in the Electronic Commerce Act (2000) acknowledges that online interactive forms of communication constitute binding contracts.

Moreover, online contracts are now completely recognized by Canadian courts in contractual disputes.