| The
Electronic Commerce Directive (00/31/EC) & The Electronic
Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No. 2013)
Summary
Background
Review
of Electronic Commerce Directive
Archived E-Commerce
Regulatory Information
Guidance
on the E-Commerce Regulations
Government
Contact
Useful
Links
A
– Z
Summary
On the 21 August 2002 the
Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No.
2013) transposed into UK law the majority of the provisions
of the
Electronic Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC), on certain
legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic
commerce, in the internal market (“the Electronic Commerce Directive”).
Regulation 16 of the Electronic Commerce (EC
Directive) Regulations 2002 came into force on the 23 October
2002. They extend the Stop
Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001 to include
the consumer protection elements of the E-Commerce Regulations.
This as now been subsumed into Part 8 of the
Enterprise Act 2002, which provides the Office of Fair Trading
or other named consumer protection bodies to make applications
to the courts for “enforcement orders” to restrain persons from
conduct infringing provisions of domestic and European consumer
protection legislation. The courts will also be able to order
businesses and service providers to publish corrective statements
with a view to eliminating the continuing effects of past infringements.
HM-
Treasury implemented separately the requirements of the
E-Commerce Directive for the financial services sector.
The key features of the Electronic Commerce
(EC Directive) Regulations 2002 are:
-
Online selling and advertising is subject
to the laws of the UK if the trader is established in the
UK. Online services provided from other Member States may
not be restricted. There are exceptions, particularly for
contracts with consumers and the freedom of parties to choose
the applicable law;
-
Recipients of online services must be given
clearly defined information about the trader, the nature of
commercial communications (i.e. e-mails) and how to complete
an online transaction;
-
Online service providers are exempt from
liability for the content that they convey or store in specified
circumstances; and
- Changes
to the powers of enforcement authorities such as Trading Standards
Departments and the Office of Fair Trading.
Businesses who conduct business
online should also be aware of the requirements placed on them
by the Distance
Selling Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No. 2334), which implemented
Distance
Selling Directive 97/7/EC of 20 May 1997 on the protection
of consumers in respect of distant contracts.
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Background
The purpose of the Directive (and therefore
the Regulations) is to ensure the free movement of “information
society services” across the European Community and to encourage
greater use of e-commerce by breaking down barriers across Europe
and boost consumer confidence and trust by clarifying the rights
and obligations of businesses and consumers.
The E-Commerce Directive was adopted
on 8 June 2000 and published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities on the 17 July 2000. The objective was to ensure that
information society services benefit from the internal market
principles of free movement of services and freedom of establishment,
in particular through the principle that they can trade throughout
the European Community unrestricted or what is known as the “Country
of Origin” rule.
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Review of Electronic
Commerce Directive (00/31/EC)
The European Commission have
published their first report on the implementation of the
E-Commerce Directive, and it can be viewed on the Commission's
website here.
Archived E-Commerce Regulatory
Information
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Guidance on Electronic
Commerce Regulations
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Government
contact:
Paul Redwin
Bay 202
Department of Trade and Industry
151 Buckingham Palace Road
London
SW1W 9SS
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7215 1853
Fax: +44 (0)20 7215 4161
E-mail: ecom@dti.gsi.gov.uk
or
Guy Russell
Bay 203
Department of Trade and Industry
151 Buckingham Palace Road
London
SW1W 9SS
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7215 1806
Fax: +44 (0)20 7215 4161
E-mail: ecom@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Useful
Links
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A– Z
A
-Archived E-Commerce Regulatory
Information
-Advertising
Standards Authority
B
-Business
Link
C
-Citizens
Advice Bureau
-Consultations
-Contacts
D
-
Distance
Selling Regulations
E
-
Electronic
Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC)
-
Electronic
Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No. 2013)
-
EU
Commission E-Commerce homepage
-
European
Commission ELex Portal
-
European Extra-Judicial
Network (EEJ-Net)
F
-Frequently
Asked Questions on the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002
G
-Guidance on Electronic
Commerce Regulations
-Government
response to consultation
H
-HM
Treasury implementation of Directive in the financial services
sector
I
-ICSTIS
– the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards
of Telephone Information Services
J
K
L
M
N
O
-OECD
E-Commerce homepage
-Office
of Fair Trading
P
-Patent
Office
-Press
Release on E-Commerce Regulations
Q
R
-Review of Electronic Commerce
Directive (00/31/EC)
S
-Small Business Guide to E-Commerce Regulations
in PDF
(339 kb) or MSWORD
(108 kb) formats
-Stop
Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001
T
-Trading
Standards Service
U
-UK
Online
-UK
Online for Business
V
W
X
Y
Z
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