Legal Issues & Electronic Business Communications

Legal Issues Surrounding Electronic Business Communications

Innovative technological advancements over the last few decades have increased the methods by which companies can communicate and transact business. In particular, these technological innovations have provided companies with opportunities to improve their profitability, efficiency, speed, competitiveness and customer relationships (Cordy, 400). Much of this new business activity falls under the heading of "e-commerce" or electronic commerce, whereby companies transact business electronically rather than the more traditional face-to-face meetings or written document exchanges. At their base, however, business transactions remain essentially the same: one entity contracts with another for the provision of a product or service. However, the methods by which many of these contracts occur today have required the adaptation of existing laws and the development of new laws to ensure the continued protection of commercial actors. This paper explores these legal adaptations and developments.

The Increase in Electronic Business Transactions

Electronic business communications and transactions have become, in many arenas, the preferred way of transacting business today (Cordy, 400). For example, according to Forrester Research, the world Internet economy was expected to reach $1 trillion dollars by the end of 2001 (Cordy, 400). Moreover, online electronic business transactions in the United States were ex

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mmediately requires some confidence that the decisions codified into contracts at such times - often electronically - will be given as full legal weight as traditional written contracts. Because these transactions are electronic, however, they first raise legitimate questions of which geographical jurisdiction will have the right to enforce or not enforce the business transaction. As Cordy notes, the world of electronic business is not limited by territorial boundaries. Thus, a business in Atlanta can easily conduct business online with another business in New York or Africa. However, the laws that govern rights and responsibilities of on-line transactions are traditionally territorial, reflecting their origins in the pre-electronic age (Cordy, 400). Thus, states and countries, and their courts, are limited in the extent to which they can enforce laws and render judgments against businesses outside their boundaries (Cordy, 400). Consequently, forum selection clauses can be some of the most significant clauses in electronic contracts. Every business must attempt to ensure that contract disputes will be governed by the law of the state or country of their choosing. Where a Contract is Created Before the explosion of elect

Category: Science - L