Legal issues on the basic rules of e-commerce operation. Through online transactions, buyers and sellers must also go through a process of offer and acceptance. China's "Contract Law" clearly stipulates whether an electronic contract can constitute the formal elements of a contract, and holds that data information is a written form that can tangibly express the contents contained, but it lacks specific provisions on when an e-commerce contract is established. Therefore, how to determine that the online e-commerce contract has been constituted and is binding on both parties of the contract has become a major issue in the legal issues of e-commerce.
In the e-commerce activities of BtoB and BtoC, a large number of contracts are reached by clicking. The first step in the formation of electronic contracts is for users to register customers in some form online. During the registration process, users will browse or view the screen with the format purchase agreement attached, or click the chart to view the agreement. Only when users explicitly agree to the terms of the contract can they engage in online transactions. Therefore, the establishment of an online contract is usually completed by the user clicking the mouse. If the user has the opportunity to review the terms of the contract and decide to agree or reject the contract, then the electronic contract formed through this procedure should be regarded as a valid contract and protected by law. Compared with written materials, online materials can be modified, edited and stolen at will, so how to ensure the authenticity, integrity, confidentiality, security and timeliness of online materials is facing many challenges. This involves not only technical issues, but also legal issues. Every year, countries around the world lose tens of billions of dollars because of the theft of network information, including confidential company business information and credit card information. Therefore, we should establish electronic security systems in our country as soon as possible. A electronic security systems mainly needs to solve four problems: only authorized people can enter the information base; Unauthorized personnel shall not create, modify or destroy electronic data; Legally authorized personnel will not be denied access to the information base; Ensure that information resources are used for legitimate purposes. In the virtual world of electronic network, we must solve the problems of identity authentication and privacy through password and digital authentication technology and public key system.
Because encryption software is not widely used in China, people usually send unsigned or encrypted data information online. Even if the electronic signature is used and the data is encrypted electronically, the authenticity, reliability and security of the signature must be ensured by establishing electronic security systems.
Legislation can legally guarantee the standardization of digital signature, clarify the validity of digital signature, the authority of certification body and the legal consequences of violation; At the same time, it can legally guarantee that files transmitted through the Internet will not be forged or modified, and establish real-time sending and receiving of communication between the sender and the receiver to avoid breaking the contract. This will undoubtedly establish a good legal framework for the healthy development of e-commerce. (1), user privacy
Internet is a brand-new media. Because of its globality, communication, openness and interactivity, the Internet is the first media that allows users from any country to freely publish information and engage in business activities through the Internet. Users can choose their favorite information and entertainment through the Internet, and they can also buy and sell stocks online. The interactivity of the network has greatly changed the traditional relationship between consumers and suppliers. Similarly, the government is gradually providing citizens with services including education, medical care and government information through the Internet.
Because the Internet is a virtual space, many users may think that he is an anonymous person when searching for information online. He can't see others himself and others can't see himself. But in fact, every website or link he visits is recorded online, and his visits to web pages, online ordering and sending and receiving emails will be recorded online. These data can reflect the general situation of this user's online life. This leads to the problem of user privacy. When individuals browse or shop online, they are often asked to provide personal information. On the other hand, website operators often don't explain to users what purpose the collected personal data will be used for. Internet providers often organize users' data and establish users' personal files, or sell or rent these data to other companies, such as advertisers, to obtain advertising fees.
Because e-commerce makes consumers' personal data easy to be obtained or used by others, consumers will be worried about online transactions and will not make full use of the Internet to actively conduct electronic transactions. According to some foreign studies, we can see that if consumers have doubts about the privacy protection of their personal online data, the development speed of e-commerce will be greatly affected. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify through the legislation of the National People's Congress how Internet providers should inform users about the use of personal information collected by consumers, whether users have the right to modify their personal information, and the responsibility of Internet providers to disclose users' personal information without users' consent.
(2), encryption and decryption system
In e-commerce, high requirements are put forward for the security and reliability of information provided by users, especially for information about online payment and settlement. Unlike fax and voice transmitted through underground cables, the Internet transmits information through countless networked computers, and the path taken by information is unpredictable. Therefore, when shopping online, consumers are full of doubts about disclosing their unencrypted payment and settlement information online, which will undoubtedly hinder the popularization of e-commerce.
On June 1999, the State Council, China issued the Regulations on the Management of Commercial Passwords. The Regulations implement a special control management system for the development, production, sale and use of software, equipment and products containing encryption and decryption technology. However, it should be noted that some problems may occur in actual operation because the provision is too simple. For example, regardless of the technical standards of passwords, such as the strength of derived keys is less than 30 bytes (30 BTTS), do they need the approval of the national password management agency? For another example, according to the regulations, foreign organizations or individuals must report to the national password management agency for approval when they use password products or devices containing password technology in China, but should a foreign businessman use portable computers containing password products produced and sold abroad during his short stay in China? What kind of legal responsibility will an individual bear when downloading encryption software from the Internet and using it? These should be further stipulated by administrative regulations.
(3), safety certification
China should and must establish a national E-commerce Certification Center (CA) as soon as possible, so as to establish an authoritative but completely independent non-governmental certification body nationwide. Certification centers can set up branches all over the country to form a centralized leadership and hierarchical management certification system, and can also establish mutual contact with some existing local certification centers.
(4) Computer crime
With the rapid increase in the number of netizens in China, crimes committed by using the Internet have also increased accordingly, such as fraud, infringement, slander, illegal sales, infringement of personal privacy, commercial secrets and even state secrets. Although computer crimes in China are only the tip of the iceberg at present, we must guard against the phenomenon of computer crimes. We should further improve and perfect the corresponding laws and punish all kinds of computer crimes. (1), effective competition in the telecommunications market
The development of e-commerce needs the improvement of telecommunication services and infrastructure. We believe that the current telecommunications market in China lacks sufficient and effective competition, which may lead to the future development of China's telecommunications market lagging behind other countries. The government can restrict monopoly and encourage competition through legislation.
(2) The role of government and service provider Our government should plan the infrastructure construction of information superhighway from a macro perspective and comprehensively develop wired, wireless, wired, satellite and other communication facilities. The government can actively encourage and guide foreign investors to invest in this field, and clarify the approval procedures and specific requirements for the establishment of ISP, ICP and ASP in the form of laws and regulations.
(3), triple play
There is no technical problem in the integration of radio and television network, computer network and telecommunication network, which is very important for e-commerce, but the integration of the three networks will inevitably require the coordination and integration of laws, regulations and industry management of various competent departments. E-commerce often involves intellectual property issues on the network, such as the protection of copyright, trademark right and patent right, and the use and protection of trade secrets and proprietary technology on the network.
(1), network copyright
Digital information transmitted in the network, including all kinds of words, images, sounds, graphics, software, etc., are all intellectual achievements, so downloading online content immediately will constitute the main form of internet infringement in the future. In this regard, it is still doubtful how to determine the existence of infringement facts and the principle of damages, and whether the existing copyright protection laws can meet the needs of network development.
(2) Protection of online trademarks
Since the emergence and commercialization of the Internet, online trademark protection issues have followed, such as the granting and protection of various trademarks on websites and webpages, the registration principles and awarding standards of domain names, etc. Does it belong to the category of trademarks? How to adjust and standardize the use of traditional trademark law? These problems need to be solved. When the government exercises its rights on the Internet, it will find itself in a dilemma, that is, the government, as one of its basic functions, will be unable to levy taxes because there is no tax basis. At present, the tax systems of governments around the world have not been adjusted, and many countries have stipulated tax policies to encourage e-commerce, including signing some bilateral or multilateral agreements on e-commerce, and explicitly not imposing tariffs on e-commerce. However, there is still an urgent need to establish a practical model that fully serves e-commerce taxation. The first problem is how to determine the tax jurisdiction in network-based e-commerce.
From the above, it can be seen that the legal problems of e-commerce are manifested in different levels and fields, which need to be solved and standardized through legislation at different levels.