ad info

 
CNN.com  technology > computing
    Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 
TECHNOLOGY
TOP STORIES

Consumer group: Online privacy protections fall short

Guide to a wired Super Bowl

Debate opens on making e-commerce law consistent

(MORE)

TOP STORIES

More than 11,000 killed in India quake

Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

ENTERTAINMENT

HEALTH

TRAVEL

FOOD

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
*
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


European justices pass stiff e-commerce law

Network World Fusion

(IDG) -- European justice ministers Thursday passed a law that will force traders to abide by the laws of all 15 member states of the European Union when they go online.

The law, dubbed the Brussels I regulation, will come into effect next March. It states that where there is a dispute between a consumer in one EU country and an online retailer in another, the consumer will be able to sue in a court in his own country.

The justice ministers and the European Commission, which drafted the regulation, argue that this focus on the consumer is essential to help get e-commerce off the ground in Europe.

"A lack of consumer confidence is the main thing holding up the development of e-commerce here," said Leonello Gabrici, spokesman on judicial matters for the Commission.

He said that by handing jurisdiction of such cross-border disputes to the courts in the consumers' country, the regulation would be encouraging consumers to purchase online.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
IDG.net   IDG.net home page
  Network World Fusion home page
  Group voices concern over EU cybercrime plan
  The battle of the European portals
  Europe keeps ban on software patents--for now
  Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
  E-BusinessWorld
  TechInformer
  Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
  Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletter for network experts
  Search IDG.net in 12 languages
  News Radio
  * Fusion audio primers
  * Computerworld Minute

But industry representatives in this debate argue that this approach will create legal uncertainty for small companies using the Internet.

"For large companies it isn't a problem, because they have offices and lawyers in all EU countries. The [small and midsize enterprises] would be burdened with substantial legal and insurance costs if they took protection against litigation from outside their home market," said Wim Mijs, vice president of EU affairs at Dutch bank ABN Amro. "As a result, venture capitalists might be a little more cautious about investing in a European Web venture."

The implications of this regulation for business-to-consumer online trading are enormous, said Mike Pullen, a Brussels-based lawyer with U.K. law firm Dibb Lupton Alsop.

"It means we will still have 15 separate markets in the EU, rather than one unified internal market, which I thought was the aim."

The Commission, the EU's executive body, said Thursday that the text agreed by justice ministers is a compromise solution, addressing the concerns of consumers and e-commerce practitioners alike.

"It is a compromise because it states clearly what court has jurisdiction in cases of conflicts arising from e-commerce," justice and home affairs commissioner Antonio Vitorino said.

But even some justice ministers disagreed. One described the regulation as "a lawyers charter," because it creates so much uncertainty, according to an official who witnessed the ministers' closed-door debate.

The regulation pre-empts the signing of a global charter on the question of jurisdiction in cross-border online disputes, under discussion at a forum called the Hague Convention.

The Hague Convention also aims to protect consumers in online transactions. The current wording of a document, which will be debated by representatives of all the major trading blocks including the U.S. early next year, says that the courts in the consumer's country should have jurisdiction only when a Web site is specifically targeting that country, said Pullen.

The Brussels I regulation states that if the Web site does not specify a country, then it should be assumed that the online trader is targeting all countries.

Vitorino denied there is a contradiction between this European approach and the global one being debated in the Hague Convention. "There is no contradiction here because we are mandated to represent the EU in the Hague Convention negotiations," he said.

He stressed that the Brussels I regulation goes much further than the Hague Convention, in that it applies to all cross-border disputes, not just online cases.

"It is unfortunate that the justice ministers decided to go ahead with this regulation before the Hague process is concluded. We were asking for a delay until then," said Angle Mills, EU affairs manager with the Internet Advertising Bureau.

She added that the new regulation also contradicts existing EU legislation by focussing on the court in the consumer's country. An e-commerce directive which is in the process of being transposed into the national statutes of the 15 EU countries says that a Web site should be able to sell its goods and services according to one set of rules -- those of the country where the Web site is based.

"It's a fudge. There is no legal certainty at all," she said.




RELATED STORIES:
Scented computers could make e-commerce sense
November 30, 2000
Asean, APEC move to boost e-commerce and bridge Asia's digital divide
November 23, 2000
APEC leaders worry e-commerce will leave some behind
November 15, 2000
Global e-commerce initiatives to advance transactions
October 23, 2000
Study: Online sales stall at the checkout
October 20, 2000

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
Group voices concern over EU cybercrime plan
(IDG.net)
EU postpones decision on online taxation
(IDG.net)
Europe keeps ban on software patents--for now
(IDG.net)
IT to make up 15 percent of the EU's GDP
(IDG.net)
Funding tech globally
(The Industry Standard)
Population of mobile and remote workers grows globally
(IDC)
'Safe harbor' takes effect, but adoption may be slow
(Computerworld)
The battle of the European portals
(IDG.net)

RELATED SITES:
The European Commission

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 Search   

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.