E-commerce involves online business transactions and digital delivery of products and services. For contracts formed online, issues include offer/acceptance, terms and conditions, capacity of parties, and governing law. The Electronic Transactions Act aims to validate electronic transactions and signatures. When setting up a business, common structures include sole trader, partnership, and company. Domain names are used as human-friendly web addresses and must be registered, with consideration of trademarks and other identifiers.

1. Doing Business in the
Information Age
John Corker
GENL0230

2. What is e-commerce?
Includes:
► Online business to business
transactions
► Online business to consumer
transactions
► Digital delivery of products and services
► Online merchandising
► Automated telephone transactions eg
phone banking
► EFTPOS and other automated transfer

3. Contracts
►Law of contracts
►Issues for e-commerce

4. Contracts - the basics
► Offer
► Acceptance
► Intentionto enter legal relations
► Consideration
► Legal capacity
► Genuine consent

5. Offer
► Clear statement of terms
► Person who makes it is prepared to be
bound
► Not just an “invitation to treat”

6. Acceptance
► Unqualified agreement to terms of offer
► Express or inferred by conduct
► Can’t be forced on unwilling person

7. Time of creation of contract
► Contract
formed at time and place the
acceptance is communicated to offeror

8. Termination or
revocation of offer
► Can be revoked prior to acceptance
► Revocation must be communicated to
offeror

9. Certainty
► Essential parts of contract must be clear
and complete
► Courts may imply a meaning
► Uncertain term can be “severed”

10. Consideration
► Valuable consideration
► Passing between parties to contract
► Can’t be unlawful or immoral

11. Intention
► Express
► Inferredfrom the circumstances
► Must be genuine consent - not obtained
under duress

12. Capacity
► Age
► Intellectual capacity

13. Terms and conditions
► Express
► Implied

14. Formalities
► Oral or written
► Writing required under statute eg for sale of
land

15. Practical concerns
for e-commerce deals
► Identityand capacity of seller or buyer
► Authenticity of offer and acceptance (digital
signatures)
► When and where contract formed
► Governing law
► Terms and conditions (click through)

16. Practical Concerns for
e-commerce deals(2)
► Agreement on electronic payment system
► Security of information exchanges
► Consequences on breach
► Storing electronic data to prevent alteration

17. Electronic Transactions Act
► Federal law with mirror State laws (NSW,
VIC, WA)
► To remove obstacles to electronic
transactions, communications, signatures
and record keeping
► 1 July 2001 applies to all federal laws
unless exempted

18. Electronic Transactions Act(2)
► Validates electronic transactions
► Given in writing met electronically now
 Govt can specify technology requirements
 Business requirement valid only with consent
► Signatures-partiesfree to agree on method
► Production and retention of documents
 Method must ensure integrity and accessibility
► Time andplace of dispatch and receipt of
communications

19. Electronic Transactions(3)
 Time of dispatch is when it enters the first
information system outside control of sender
 Time of receipt is when it enters an information
system designated by the addressee for
receiving it.
 Place of dispatch and receipt taken to be
respective places of business

20. Electronic Transactions (4)
► Record keeping OK electronically if law
says:
 Information to be recorded in writing
 A written document to be kept
 An electronic communication to be kept
► Records must be kept identifying origin,
destination, time of sending and receipt of
electronic communication

21. Making a contract
► What terms do you want to include?
► What risks are you trying to avoid?
► How will disputes about contract be dealt
with?
► What is the governing law?
► Who will sign it?

22. Setting up a
business entity
► Sole trader
► Partnership
► Company
► Trust

23. Sole trader
► All profits
► All losses
► All liabilities
► Own name or choose business name
► Register business name

24. Partnership
►Carrying on a business
►In common
►With a view to profit
►Established by written agreement, oral
agreement or conduct

25. Partnership
► Partnership Act 1892 (NSW)
► Corporations Law: Not more than 20
partners (except doctors, solicitors and
accountants)

26. Partnership
► Profit sharing
► Joint and several liability
► Fiduciary duties to partners

27. Companies
► Corporations Act
► Artificial legal entity
► Liability of members can be limited

28. Companies
► Constitution
► Directors duties
► Limits on raising money from the public

29. Companies
► The “corporate veil”
► Lifting the veil: fraud, agency, paying more
dividends than profit, incurring debts when
company insolvent

30. Companies
Form a company by:
► Registering name
► Lodge application with ASIC
► Registered office
► Names of directors and members

31. Which structure?
► Where are you getting your money from?
► What is your risk/liability?
► Who will be in control?
► What are the ongoing costs?

32. What is a domain name
► Human friendly form of an Internet address
► Actual address is an Internet Protocol (IP)
number
► System globally administered by ICANN
► Generic top level domains (gTLDs)
 .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .biz
► Country code top level domains (ccTLDs)

33. Domain name registration
in Australia
► open and closed domains
► open - .com, .org, .net, .info, .biz
► closed - .gov, .edu, .mil, .museum
► auDA administers .com.au space
► to register in .au space must be a
commercial entity registered and trading
in Australia..

34. Domain Names (cont)
► Licensed on a first come-first served basis
► Domain Names never meant to confer
property rights.
► Clash with Trade Marks.
► auDA has a dispute resolution scheme
which applies to all domain names
registered or renewed from 1 August 2002.
► ICANN has the UDRP for .com etc domains.

35. Domain Names and other
business identifiers
► Trade Marks
► Personality Rights
► Place Names
► Tension with domain names
 Reverse domain name hijacking
 cybersquatting