The Impact of Digital Disruptions on Business Contracts - Research Paper Example

Contents ABSTRACT 2 INTRODUCTION 3 MOBILE INTERNET 3 Mobile Internet as a Disruptive Technology 3 Evolution of mobile internet and the law 4 Law reforms in Australia 5 IMPACTS OF MOBILE INTERNET 7 Mobile internet’s digital disruption impacts on the various elements of implied contract 7 Offer 7 Acceptance 7 Consideration 8 Mutuality of obligation 8 How mobile internet has influenced implicit business contracts and its effects on the law 8 CONCLUSION 12 ABSTRACT Over the past few decades, the world has been characterized by rapid technological innovations. As business began realizing the importance of these technologies they became more receptive to the technologies and began adopting them. As a consequence of these, the world of business has undergone a significant shift. The term “disruptive technologies” is being used to show how these innovations have disrupted the usual ways of doing businesses. Parties have had to modify their terms of contracts because of the disruptive technologies. These technologies have upended the business models, and these have consequently led to the disruption of markets. The law has not been spared the impacts of disruptive digital technologies as it has been forced to undergo major reforms to incorporate the technological changes. Businesses have also felt in necessary to evolve with the disruptive technologies so as to stay competitive or attain a greater competitive advantage. INTRODUCTION In the wake of globalization and technological innovation, new digital technologies are emerging, and these have changed the way people think, conduct businesses, the nature of social interactions and how businesses are run. These changes are regarded as disruptive technologies as they have changed the conduct of businesses and companies. The new changes have called upon the government to impose new laws or remove restrictions in regards the digital technologies. Making changes in the law has however posed hot topics since the government is aware that digital disruption will produce significant productivity growth yet at the same time is concerned that the digital disruptions pose a threat to information privacy1. This study examines mobile internet as the disruptive technology in regards to the Australian Law. The purpose of the study is to find out how mobile internet has impacted the various elements of a business contract and its impacts on implied contracts. MOBILE INTERNET Mobile Internet as a Disruptive Technology Mobile internet is one of the major technological shifts is the increased use of mobile devices for both personal use and at work. Mobile internet is now referred to as consumerization of IT and is attributed as the primary cause of increased digital disruption in many industries. Consumers can now use their mobile devices such as phones, IPads, and iPhones among others to access their internet from their comfort zones and at their own convenience. Mobile internet has therefore changed how different consumers access content2. Australia, being among the most advanced economies of the world has experienced increased use of mobile internet. The shift has had a significant influence on the way that Australian governments operate. In as much as the mobile internet has improved service delivery and public processes, the government is experiencing reactive responses to digital technologies3. Evolution of mobile internet and the law Over the past few decades, the use of the internet has changed how people communicate, acquire information, sell and buy goods and how they gather information. There has been an incredible growth of internet usage and slightly over 50% of the world’s population today uses the internet4. By looking at platforms such as Facebook, one can find a person online for the better part of their day. This increased use if the internet can be explained by increased mobile internet which enables people to access the internet from anywhere and at any time. Mobile internet has also made it possible for people to work from remote locations. With the introduction of the 4G technology, more and more people are accessing the internet via their phones. As the years have been progressing, the need for information has increased, and consumers are looking for new ways of acquiring information. Various internet groups are using their mobile devices backed up with other tools to discover the new information as well as to explore the information that has been kept private that consumers cannot access. The new move to use the Internet to exploit system has raised an issue with the law, and this has seen more stringent measures put in place concerning the use of the internet5. Law reforms in Australia There have been need to emphasize the reforms on the Australian cyber laws so as to keep up with the technology. According to South Australian Law Reform Institute, the Australian laws need to be revamped to bring them up to date with new technologies and also to accommodate future technologies. Various interest groups are also advocating for technology neutrality by allowing businesses to be carried out digitally end-to-end. Australian governments have realized the benefits associated with increased mobile internet and have therefore reviewed various laws which initially restricted users from accessing some web contents. For instance, the state amended the 1999 Electronic Transactions Act to enable digital services better. Australia is trying to enhance an open and free internet to its citizens so as to facilitate commerce and information sharing within and outside Australia. The state is also imposing lesser restrictions on the information that previously blocked users from accessing. In addition to that, the state is also trying to address the issue of overlapping jurisdiction in some areas which affect the mobile internet. To allow for technology neutrality and also to address the issues of security raised by increased use of mobile internet, the 2015 Online Infringement Bill was passed to prevent Australians accessing some overseas websites, such as the popular BitTorrent network site The Pirate Bay. The law also blocks the Australians from accessing malicious foreign internet sites. In addition to that, amendments have been made to the copyright amendment law, and this will allow intellectual property right holders to launch cases in the Federal Court of Australia6. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty is a competition law found in Article 11. This law dictates that “Contracting Parties shall provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures that are used by authors in connection with the exercise of their rights under this Treaty or the Berne Convention and that restrict acts, in respect of their works, which are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted by law”. The law has undergone reforms to incorporate technological changes. IMPACTS OF MOBILE INTERNET Mobile internet’s digital disruption impacts on the various elements of implied contract Offer Offer refers to the promise agreed on by the parties to a contract. Previously, contracting parties had to meet physically so as to come to an agreement that one party should deliver while the other receives. Mobile internet has however changed the way in which parties reach an agreement. Sellers and buyers do not have to meet physically for business to commence necessarily. In this case, therefore, no signatures are left by either party, and the law deems this form of a contract as a preliminary negotiation with no legal offers. Mobile internet has seen some of the parties breach the agreements and thus do not fulfill the promise7. For instance, the buyer might agree to make a purchase via an online store. The buyer sends the seller money, yet the seller fails to deliver the agreed upon commodity. The Australian Consumer Law regards this as a breach of contract and is, therefore, punishable by the law. Acceptance The terms of offer determine whether the assents to the offer or not. Mobile internet has however made the consumers accept the terms of the offer under the unclear circumstance. The law authorizes the contract if the offeree accepts all the conditions of the business contract without omitting anything from the promise or performance requested. With the increased use of mobile internet, however, a significant portion of consumers are making online purchases and sellers are devising new tricks of attracting the buyers. The sellers might present conditions that may seem favorable to the consumers, who might accept these terms without giving any second thought. Consumers have also been seen quitting these “fixed” contracts when they are not comfortable with the conditions. Consideration Business contracts require that both parties should provide something valuable to induce each other to enter into a contract. Mobile internet has however changed the need for both parties to offer something of value before going into a contract. Parties are therefore moving from bilateral contracts where one promise is valid for the other party to consider to unilateral contracts where the offeree furnishes the necessary consideration. Mutuality of obligation The Australian law regards a contract as valid if it is mutually binding. Mobile internet has changed the mutuality of obligation and by granting one party the unlimited rights to cancel the obligation. In this regard, therefore, there is no contract between the parties, and this is considered as the performance of a void promise. In such a situation, the Australian law establishes a moral obligation which confers the promisor a benefit. How mobile internet has influenced implicit business contracts and its effects on the law Mobile internet can be seen as both a threat and opportunity to the firm. Mobile internet has made it possible for users to access the internet through private addressing schemes and this has made it possible for organizations to enter into more contracts with consumers. Consumers are demanding more information from their business partners and are even utilizing the search engines to acquire more information about their business partners. For this reason, therefore, mobile internet users are calling for law reforms to keep up with the changing technology trends. Internet users are therefore advocating for the removal of Internet restrictions imposed by the Australian cyber laws. The use of mobile internet has facilitated business transactions, and this is crucial in a highly dynamic business environment8. For instance, orders and payments can be made via the phone and deliveries are made immediately. Consumers can, therefore, use their mobile devices to search information concerning producers offering similar products. Organizations are also expanding their markets to reach the new groups of mobile internet users. In this case, therefore, competition increases as business persons are looking for new consumer bases. Business persons cannot exploit the consumers because mobile internet enhances information symmetry while businesses engage in ethical business practices, and thus facilitate consumerism. The biggest challenge with mobile internet, however, is that it is a threat to the privacy of information and clients. There have been incidences where employees have used their mobile devices to take videos and pictures in prohibited places such as hospitals and update it immediately to the social media platforms. The law regards exposure of private information without seeking the consent of the owner of this information as a breach of the law. The organization or employee who shares confidential information is subject to legal enforcement and even risks losing their licensing. Mobile internet has also disrupted the work-life boundaries. A person might be online during the entire work time as they prioritize surfing above their duties. Giving priorities on the wrong activities lowers the employee’s productivity and thus goes against the agreement reach on during the hiring process. This also hampers the relationship between the employer and the employee because of the violated principles. Employers are more likely to terminate their contract with employee since the use of the personal device during work hours is unethical and will negatively impact the organization’s performance. Increased use of mobile internet has enhanced access to web content by the users9. Users are however accessing the information in the wrong way by gaining unauthorized access to other people’s systems. This unauthorized access has raised serious security concerns as more people are losing private information or even get the information tampered. Users are also infringing the intellectual property of other individuals by copying their works without seeking the consent of the owner of the information10. Individuals are trying to make new discoveries with their phones, but this has been very unfortunate as it has increased incidences of black hat hacking and other malicious internet activities. Mobile internet has increased the interconnectivity of the world, and this is seen the law perceives these as an advantage to the Australian economy. Competition is increasing all over the world and corporations are striving to develop a global orientation to enable them to respond to the changes in technology. With the increased use of mobile internet, consumers no longer meet the sellers physically but instead finish all the transactions via the phone. Due to this increased connectivity, an individual can purchase goods from any part of the world. The challenge with this however is that some business persons might fail to honor their obligations and fails to deliver as agreed. CONCLUSION Mobile Internet has undergone a major shift in Australia as it is gaining the popularity among users. It has caused significant changes in how jobs are run and influenced the nature of business transactions. Australia has however been conservative in regards to digital technologies as evidenced by its very restrictive laws11. Despite the fact that the Australian law enforcement agencies have been open to the reforms on internet laws, the agencies are concerned with how mobile internet is being used to gain unauthorized access to information and intellectual property and to disrupt and degrade access to information system12. Such attacks have made mobile internet to be deemed a threat to Australia’s national sovereignty. In as much as mobile internet increased the connectedness to any part of the world, this innovation is regarded as a digital disruption because it poses a 360-degree globalized challenge on the security of the state, businesses and individuals. The recent rise in insecurity and terror attacks has seen mobile internet been given more attention as evidence shows that terrorist groups are utilizing the mobile internet to facilitate their political agendas. A report by various intelligence agencies indicates that the mobile internet has been used to political enemies to organize and launch their attacks. Australia is considering imposing more restrictive cyber laws to curb the challenge of mobile internet. Read More