(1) The Internet Supervision Department’s administrative guidance on the Alibaba-based online trading platform
The Internet Supervision Department carefully analyzed and sorted out the online shopping chaos on the Alibaba-based online trading platform and pointed out that There are many problems in terms of operators, product sales and transaction behavior management within the platform.
1. The subject access control is not strict.
First, operators on the platform use other people’s business names to carry out business activities without authorization. There are a large number of online stores on Alibaba and Taobao that have not obtained business licenses but are operating under business names that require industrial and commercial registration according to laws and regulations. Food, cosmetics, health products, culture, commercial Internet information services and other online stores that can only operate after obtaining administrative licenses in accordance with the law engage in online business activities in violation of regulations on the access of market entities.
Second, the operators on the platform failed to identify themselves as operators in accordance with regulations. There are a large number of online stores on Taobao whose business entities have failed to review and register the identities of online stores on the platform or to highlight their trademarks in accordance with the law, which violates the relevant provisions of the "Online Transaction Management Measures".
Third, the qualification review and registration of operators on the platform is a mere formality. For some online stores that need to upload their business licenses for real-name authentication, their actual entity names, business addresses, and residence information are obviously inconsistent with those registered in the business licenses, and they even upload other people's business license information.
Fourthly, user ID management is not strict. Taobao does not strictly review the user IDs and store names of operators on the platform, causing infringement of legitimate rights and interests such as the exclusive right to register trademarks of others, the exclusive right to business names, and the unique commercial rights and interests of well-known products, confusing consumers' judgment, and restricting other competitions. Opponents’ trading opportunities.
Fifth, the "auction" is suspected of disrupting the order of the auction market. Taobao's "Auction" channel provides a third-party information service platform for auction transactions for buyers and sellers of auction objects, collects and freezes bidding deposits, collects auction commissions, automatically bids on behalf of the computer system, etc., and actually undertakes the auction activities. Human functions. This move has had a negative impact on the order of the auction market.
2. Ineffective review of product information.
The goods sold or the services provided by Taobao and Alibaba platform online stores have a large number of infringements on the exclusive rights of others' registered trademarks, unqualified goods, no legal import source certificates, state prohibitions on sales, pyramid schemes, etc. There are a large number of product information, fake cigarettes, fake wine, high-imitation mobile phones, fake brand-name bags, fake certificates, feudal superstition and gambling supplies, items endangering public security, controlled knives, eavesdropping equipment, etc. The platform operator does not properly review the access to product information on the platform, conduct daily monitoring, and handle violations. The threshold is high and the efficiency is low when handling the rights protection claims of those who have lost their rights and the law enforcement and investigation by regulatory authorities. It is suspected that he knowingly, should have known, intentionally or negligently provided facilities and implementation conditions for unlicensed operations, trademark infringement, false publicity, pyramid schemes, consumer infringement and other behaviors.
3. Sales behavior management is chaotic.
The first is illegal promotion. During the "Double Eleven", "Double Twelve", holiday promotions, hot social events and business activity promotion periods, both the platform and the operators within the platform have obvious misleading consumer behavior; some operators on the platform also have "pre-event before activities" "Raise prices and then offer discounts", "First discount at low prices to attract consumers' attention, and then deny sales on the grounds of lack of stock", "Failing to truthfully and comprehensively introduce the content of promotional activities to induce consumers to consume blindly", "Unless there are force majeure factors, Illegal promotional behaviors such as changing or even canceling promotional activity plans.
Second, false publicity and advertising are illegal. A large number of operators on the platform use absolute language such as "lowest price in the entire network", "lowest price in history", "number one in sales", "ranking number one", etc. for advertising; many "Tmall Mall" flagship stores, "Alibaba "Shops exaggerate and fabricate facts in columns such as brand introduction and company introduction. In particular, there are many fake foreign brands and fictitious historical origins of brands from foreign countries, which are misleading and false; many online stores on the platform have not been approved. , Use third-party trading platforms without authorization to publish advertisements for goods (services) that require approval according to law, etc.
The third is to carry out lottery-style prize sales where the maximum prize value exceeds the legal limit.
During the "Double Eleven", "Double Twelve", holiday promotions, hot social events and business promotion periods, in the lottery-style prize-winning sales activities carried out by the platform operators themselves and the platform online stores, it is common for the highest prize value (cash, etc.) Coupons, physical ownership or use rights, electronic money, etc.) exceeding the 5,000 yuan limit stipulated in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (such as selling houses, selling luxury cars, etc.).
The fourth is to attach unreasonable conditions against the wishes of users in the process of providing third-party trading platform services. During major promotional events such as "Double Eleven" and "Double Twelve", Tmall takes advantage of its relatively large market share advantage in the third-party trading platform service market to force everyone to participate in the platform's promotional activities. Operators (suppliers) within the platform are not allowed to participate in promotional activities on other platforms.
Fifth, the use of unfair format terms infringes on consumer rights. The "Legal Statement", "Taobao Service Agreement" and "Taobao Rules" of Taobao and Tmall Mall, and the "Copyright and Trademark Statement", "Legal Statement", "Terms of Service" and "Privacy Statement" of the "Alibaba" platform In other web pages, there are provisions in the form of contract format clauses that exclude or limit consumer rights, reduce or exempt operators from liability, and increase consumer liability, which are unfair and unreasonable to consumers.
Sixth, there is commercial bribery. In recent years, there have been intensive outbreaks of internal Alibaba staff collecting commercial bribes for suppliers, platform users and other platform participants to gain access to “Tmall Flagship Store”, “Juhuasuan”, “Through Train”, “Taobao Search Ranking”, Improperly seeking advantageous trading opportunities and squeezing out competitors during the transaction process such as "Home Page Advertising Column" and "Booths during Major Promotional Events".
Seventh is artificial interference with credit evaluation and unfair competition. Some operators on the platform, by themselves or through others, use fictitious transactions, delete unfavorable reviews, etc. to improve their or others' business reputation, or use malicious reviews to damage the business reputation of competitors, disrupting the normal order of competition. The supervision and handling of platform operators is insufficient, and some internal staff of platform operators participate in illegal operations or provide convenient conditions for similar acts.
Eighth, the handling of commercial fraud is inadequate. For a long time, some "Chinese suppliers" on Alibaba's platform have been suspected of contract fraud and economic fraud; some online stores on Taobao have also committed consumer fraud. Platform operators fail to monitor and deal with similar behaviors in place, and if the rights holders' interests are damaged, the platform operators fail to fully perform their platform operating obligations in accordance with the law. Platform operators are required to bear joint and several liability, but they often do not receive support.
Ninth, the internal management rules are unreasonable. The "Taobao Rules" punish the operators on the platform for violating national laws, regulations and rules too lightly (compared with violations of Taobao's internal regulations but not illegal behaviors, the penalties are similar or even lighter; even in the internal management rules There is no mention of the relevant clauses regarding internal processing after administrative punishment), which to a large extent gives illegal operators or potential illegal operators a wrong psychological and behavioral orientation. They believe that the cost of illegal online operations is not high, which encourages illegal online operators. Psychological expectations and actual behaviors for seeking illegal and improper benefits.
4. The credit evaluation is flawed.
First, it is difficult to verify the authenticity of user reviews. Taobao's credit evaluation system is difficult to truly differentiate between real transactions and fake transactions, leaving a gap for credit speculation.
The second is that the reference factor for the cumulative score is single. In the credit evaluation, the evaluation is divided into positive, medium and negative. Taobao's handling of consumer complaints and the administrative penalties of relevant departments are not included.
Third, the setting of scoring permissions is unreasonable. Taobao's current credit evaluation system is generally a one-time evaluation, that is, consumers only have one opportunity to evaluate after purchasing a product. Design defects make it difficult to protect the rights and interests of consumers when some products have problems during the quality guarantee period.
5. Lack of strict control over internal staff. In recent years, when the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has deployed special tasks to investigate precursor chemicals, counterfeit donkey-hide gelatin, and random inspections of online shopping products on Taobao, when the industrial and commercial authorities provided illegal online store information to Taobao, they found online stores with illegal activities. Most of the product information was deleted (taken off the shelves) in advance, and Taobao staff were suspected of leaking relevant information to illegal online stores in advance, causing the industrial and commercial authorities to be passive in their investigation and punishment work.
Administrative guidance by local bureaus on Alibaba-based online trading platforms
The heads of the Internet supervision agencies of Beijing and Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, and Fujian provincial industrial and commercial bureaus warned Alibaba Group to operate with integrity This is the foundation. As a large-scale online business enterprise, Alibaba Group must have the courage to take responsibility, take the lead in abiding by the law, and strive to be a model in online business operations; everyone is equal before the law, and must put the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in the first place, and make full use of internal Management rules for effective management.
1. The control of subject access is not strict, the relevant responsible person cannot be found when problems arise, the identity review of operators within the platform is a mere formality, and the platform operators have a weak awareness of the subject responsibility.
2. There are many counterfeit and shoddy goods, contraband is repeatedly removed, illegal activities are neglected, and there is a tendency to selective avoidance, providing room for growth of unfair competition, and abuse of platform advantages when performing obligations. Status, there is a phenomenon of big stores bullying customers.
3. The credit evaluation system is imperfect and evaluation tools are used maliciously.
4. Failure to apply internal management rules for effective management. Relevant internal management rules have loopholes, are not comprehensive, are not timely, and have deviations in the implementation process.
5. A normal elimination mechanism for operators within the platform has not been established, resulting in chaotic management order. The Alibaba-based online trading platform has a large number of users, a huge scale, and a mixture of good and bad operators on the platform. The platform only has an entry mechanism, and the normal elimination and exit mechanism is not perfect. The lack of a disciplinary system for breach of trust results in low illegal costs for natural person online stores and frequent violations of laws and regulations. .
6. Internal data is not transparent and it is difficult to supervise illegal activities. The Alibaba department has a problem of over-protection of internal operator data, which prevents local industrial and commercial departments from accurately grasping the business conditions of local online business entities opening online stores on Tmall Mall and Taobao. It is difficult to implement integrated offline and online supervision, and illegal activities and Consumer complaints are difficult to resolve on the ground.
(2) Work requirements for Alibaba Group
The first is to form synergy.
It is necessary to clearly combine the responsibilities of market entities and the supervisory responsibilities of regulatory authorities to form a regulatory synergy. Network operators must strengthen their awareness of market subject responsibilities, correctly understand their own problems, continuously improve the construction of internal management systems, adjust and transform the construction of internal integrity mechanisms, and further implement the legal responsibilities of operators in accordance with laws and regulations. Regulatory departments must strengthen the construction of the Internet market supervision system, improve supervision rules, build a sound market supervision system, implement local supervision responsibilities, and jointly promote the healthy development of the Internet economy.
The second is to adhere to a problem-oriented approach and solve work problems.
Network operators must increase their problem awareness, face up to existing problems, and do not shirk or cover up existing problems. Work hard, face difficulties, and solve problems effectively.
The third is to harmonize the atmosphere of supervision and law enforcement.
The diversified management structure increases the difficulty of supervision. Network operators must proactively disclose relevant information and provide the industrial and commercial departments with the information required for supervision. It is necessary to achieve independent operation and fair competition, allowing consumers to freely choose and consume independently. It is necessary to accelerate the formation of a modern online market system that is unified and open, has orderly competition, is honest and law-abiding, and has strong supervision.
The fourth is to stick to the bottom line and overcome arrogance.
There are no special market entities before the law. The main executives of Alibaba must have bottom-line awareness and bottom-line thinking. Local regulatory authorities must treat business entities equally and are equal before the law. They must intensify the investigation and punishment of illegal activities and further improve the order of online operations through administrative law enforcement.
The fifth is to conduct business activities with integrity and credibility.
Enterprises cannot take whatever they ask for - when integrity is needed to safeguard corporate interests, they should be honest and put the law behind them; when legal protection is needed, they should hold high the banner of the law and deliberately neglect their integrity responsibilities; strict measures should be taken to restrain internal staff. , lay a solid foundation for supervisory credit, and operate honestly in accordance with laws and regulations. Local regulatory authorities must use information disclosure, information sharing, and credit constraints to create a credit environment of honesty, self-discipline, and trustworthiness, and promote online market entities to abide by contracts and value credit.
Sixth, make full use of information network technology for internal management and improve management efficiency.
Regulatory authorities should make full use of information network technology to realize online real-time supervision and monitoring and strengthen off-site supervision. Use information technology to quickly solve existing problems and strive to proactively perform duties.