Module 3: Text 1

e-TERM reference*

TPC1

Version no.*

1

Version date*

2001-09-20

Contributor*

Cain, Piers

Author/s*

Adam, Nabil R; Dogramaci, Oklay; Gangopadhyay, Aryya; Yesha, Yelena

Title*

Chapter 6: Legal Frameworks: Policy & Regulatory Issues for Electronic Commerce

Print availability

Electronic Commerce: technical, business and legal issues (Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1999), 145-164

Electronic availability

Copyright

© Prentice Hall PTR, Prentice Hall Inc., a Simon & Schuster Compnay, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Introduction

This chapter ranges widely over the policy implications of electronic commerce. These include intellectual property rights, taxation, digital currencies, computer crime, contractual and legal settlements, regulatory frameworks and approaches. The authors point out that whereas technological progress has been rapid, legislators are finding it difficult to keep pace. They stress the implications of electronic commerce across national borders and the problems they bring for policy makers. The authors stress the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to understanding electronic commerce.

The chapter is not attributed to a particular author. The joint authors are as follows:

Nabil R Adam is Professor of Computers and Information Systems at Rutgers University and Director of the Center for Information Management, Integration and Connectivity (CIMIC)

Oktay Dogramaci is Research Associate at Rutgers CIMIC and Research Associate at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

Aryya Gangopadhyay is a Professor of Information Systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

Yekena Yesha is Professor of Computer Science and Electical Engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

Relevance

Useful for students who have not had much exposure to the legal implications of E-commerce.

Concepts*

Cache
Computer crime
Contract
Convergence
Copyright
Digital currency
Digital products
Electronic commerce
Functionality
Intellectual property
Internet
Money laundering
Privacy
RAM
Settlement

Cases

-

Module no.*

3

Role

-

Contribution to learning objectives*

Preliminary reading

-

Reading help

This text looks at the issues very broadly although it contains references to web sites where specific aspects are discussed in more detail.

Discussion

This text discusses the legal aspects of electronic commerce. At is heart, electronic commerce is about transactions to fulfil a contract to supply goods or services and thus creates large volumes of electronic records.

Which of the legal and regulatory issues discussed in this text affect electronic records? Are electronic records affected by copyright issues, and if so, how?

Does the emergence of borderless commercial transactions challenge our traditional understanding of the nature of 'recordness'?

What are the legal risks to a) the consumer and b) businesses if electronic records are not managed properly?

Assignment

You are working for a large corporation, which has a web site to sell its products. Your boss is not convinced of the need for a programme to manage electronic records. Give him three reasons why he should change his mind.

Further reading

Those students interested in the detailed technical aspects of ensuring the authenticity and reliability of electronic records should read Adam, Nabil R; Dogramaci, Oklay; Gangopadhyay, Aryya; Yesha, Yelena, Electronic Commerce: technical, business and legal issues, Chapter 5: Security for Electronic Commerce, (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall PTR, 1999): 123-144