E-Commerce Law in Britain Focusing on Its Potential Dependency on Software Technology and Electronic Transactions - Coursework Example

Evaluate the different ways in which software technology and the growth of electronic transactions have boosted the growth and development of E-commerce law in the UK. 1. Introduction The development of technology worldwide has led businesses to improve their Information Systems in order to compete their rivals; the priorities set by the enterprises in regard to their survival in the market have a common point of reference: the presence of each firm in its industry need to be supported using appropriate Information Technology; Internet has been used by modern businesses as a tool for increasing their customer base and highlighting their strengths compared to their competitors;1 the above target has been achieved using a scheme known as E-commerce;2 E-commerce law has appeared because of the need for a regulatory framework that will focus on the commercial activities developed through the Internet. Current paper focuses on the examination of E-commerce law in Britain focusing on its potential dependency on software technology and electronic transactions. Through the research developed on this subject it has been revealed that E-commerce law in Britain is strongly related with software technology and economic transactions – as the above relationship is reflected in both the national and the European legislation used for the regulation of e-commerce in Britain. 2. E-commerce law in UK – overview E-commerce law is part of a wider ‘part’ of law – the ‘Internet law’ which regulates the various aspects of activities developed using the World Wide Web – referring not only to the selling of goods but also to the terms of navigation. Despite its importance for the development of numerous social, administrative and economic activities, Internet law is not adequately processed and developed; in fact, still there are many of its aspects that are not regulated by a specific legal rule – a problem identified both in national and international legislation.3 The above problem involves in all aspects of Internet Law – including the e-commerce law. In Britain, the Data Protection Act of 1998 – as amended by the Data Protection Act of 2003 – is considered as the fundamental legislative text for the regulation of the various aspects of e-commerce across the country; the Data Protection Act of 1988 is also applied for issues, which have not been addressed through the Data Protection Act of 1998.4 At the next level, the British legislators have established a series of additional legal texts aiming to increase the effectiveness of e-commerce legal framework. In this context, when issues referring to e-commerce in Britain appear, then the following rules are likely to be applied: the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 (UK)5 – EC Directive, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988, the Copyright and Related Rights Act of 2000, the Electronic Communications Act of 2000, the Directive 1996/9/ EC – referring to the legal protection of databases and so on.6 Apart from the above legal texts, there is a series of laws that are likely to be used in the regulation of E-commerce in Britain: the Contracts Act 1990, the Family Law Reform Act of 1969 – where the criteria for a person to be characterized as minor are set and the Companies Act of 1985; the doctrine of freedom of contract which is part of the English law is also related with the E-commerce law.7 3. The role of software technology and electronic transactions in the development of E-commerce law in the UK E-commerce law in Britain – as this part of law can be identified in the legislative texts mentioned above – needs to be continuously updated in order to meet the needs of consumers and businesses that involve in e-commerce activities; this need is made emergent because of the fact that technology is constantly improved and new technology features are incorporated in existing E-commerce schemes. On the other hand, certain aspects of e-commerce – referring especially to the electronic transactions that are part of e-commerce activities – are likely to be continuously changed – both in regard to their structure and to their volume. Under these terms, E-commerce law can be characterized as being depended on software technology and economic transactions. Software technology can influence the e-commerce law in two different ways: a) the technology used in Information systems – and Internet – worldwide is continuously improved; this means that e-commerce legal rules need to be updated in order to be aligned with the e-commerce services available in the context of the technology advances, b) the Information Technology law is also likely to be continuously updated – in the context described previously; E-commerce law need to be adjusted to the Information Technology law applied on a particular market. Thus, the update of Information Technology law needs to be followed by the existing E-commerce law; this issue is highlighted in the study of Rowland (2005); in the above study, the relationship between the E-commerce and the Information Technology law is explained as follows: in the context of e-commerce it is necessary that information is exchanged; moreover, it is necessary that the content of a document – usually the contract for buying/ selling goods/ services – is verified by signature. In the past, the above requirements have been regarded as significant barriers towards the development of e-commerce;8 however, gradually legislative texts were developed aiming to help towards the confrontation of all legal problems developed during an e-commerce transaction.9 On the other hand, technology can lead to practical implications in e-commerce schemes used within a specific market – referring to the case that specific software technology is required for the development of a series of e-commerce schemes – for instance specific software for selling air tickets; then, it is necessary that existing e-commerce law includes rules that regulate all aspects of e-commerce activities developed through the specific software.10 Through a similar approach, the relationship between e-commerce and electronic transactions can be explained; as noted above, the successful completion of e-commerce activities includes a series of requirements; in electronic transactions developed through e-commerce schemes need to be carefully regulated in all their aspects. Under these terms, E-commerce law should address a series of issues– referring especially to electronic transactions included in E-commerce schemes: the validity of the information provided, the verification of signature, the protection of information exchanged – while the transaction is in progress, the security of data provided – after the end of an electronic transaction, including also the prohibition of access to these data by unauthorized persons, the criteria for provision of authorization for accessing/ processing and publishing of data and so on. Issues like the obligations of parties in the context of a specific e-commerce transaction should be also included in e-commerce law – even if this issue would be rather related with the relevant principles of law, mainly the law of contract, rather than with the law of Information Technology. Because of the development of the technology, economic transactions available through existing E-commerce schemes are continuously improved leading to the limitation of relevant risks and failures.11 In this context, the scope of e-commerce legal rules is served – referring to the development of E-commerce as a key element of trade across Britain – as, also, in the international community. At the next level, new demands are established – related with the introduction of additional features and methodologies in E-commerce schemes used in Britain. From this point of view, the growth of electronic transactions has supported the development of E-commerce law in Britain; new rules are incorporated in the existing E-commerce framework applied on e-commerce schemes in Britain; these rules are also continuously revised/ updated as of their efficiency; in this way, stability - in the specific legal field - is avoided. At the same time, consumers are likely to be influenced by the expansion of e-commerce in various social and administrative activities;12 in Britain, many public authorities offer electronic transactions schemes aiming to make their services more approachable to the citizens but also to limit the time/ resources required for the development of various tasks in the context of their operations (for instance, the e-payment schemes incorporated in the websites of Councils across Britain). Through this way, citizens are made familiar with the rules of e-commerce; furthermore, it is made clear that these rules have equal power of enforcement like the rules developed in other legal fields; therefore, the position of E-commerce law in the hierarchy of laws in Britain is improved. 4. Conclusion In accordance with the issues addressed above, e-commerce law in Britain has been strongly based on the advances of software technology as well as the growth of electronic transactions across the country. The country’s existing legislation in regard to e-commerce can be characterized as adequate – its application in practice would set certain challenges especially taking into consideration the fact that technology involved in e-commerce schemes is continuously updated.13 A key finding of this paper has been the fact that software technology and the growth of electronic transactions have benefited the e-commerce in Britain mostly because the country’s e-commerce legal framework promotes innovation and supports the involvement of technology in various social and economic activities. In the long term, the above relationship could lead to the further improvement of E-commerce law applied on e-commerce transactions across Britain; however, it would be necessary that the following requirements are met: a) the British government should continue to support the development of electronic transactions in the public and the private sector, b) British enterprises should increase their online activities and c) additional criteria should be set for checking the technology involved in e-commerce schemes – in terms of efficiency but also of validity. References Basu, S. (2007). Global perspectives on e-commerce taxation law. Ashgate Publishing Cox, N. (2006). Technology and legal systems. Ashgate Publishing Hedley, S. (2006). The law of electronic commerce and the Internet in the UK and Ireland. Routledge Qin, Z. (2008). Introduction to E-commerce. Springer Rowland, D. (2005). Information technology law. Routledge Smith, G. (2007). Internet law and regulation. Sweet & Maxwell Spindler, G., Borner, F. (2002). E-commerce law in Europe and the USA. Springer Tassabehji, R. (2003). Applying e-commerce in business. SAGE Case law British Tourist Authority v Lingstadt [2009] DRS [Dispute Resolution Service] 6516 (26 February 2009) Bunt v Tilley & Ors [2006] EWHC 407 (QB) (10 March 2006) Euro Stock Shop Ltd v Revenue & Customs [2009] UKFTT 182 (TC) (23 July 2009) Kaschke v Gray & Anor [2010] EWHC 690 (QB) (29 March 2010) Metropolitan International Schools Ltd. (t/a Skillstrain and/or Train2game) v Designtechnica Corp (t/a Digital Trends) & Ors [2009] EWHC 1765 (QB) (16 July 2009) Tesco Stores Ltd v Elogicom Ltd & Anor [2006] EWHC 403 (Ch) (08 March 2006) Read More