pe of electronic business transaction (Cordy, 400). However, as such electronic transactions become more and more commonplace, legal institutions around the world have struggled with the inability of existing laws to deal adequately with issues presented by new technology (Cordy, 400). Fashioning appropriate laws, however, is vital to the viability and sustainability of such transactions. Business actors need guidance to know how to fashion binding and enforceable contracts when established legal rules such as ôthe mailbox ruleö no longer seem to apply. Business actors also need guidance on how best to protect other interests, such as the confidentiality of their proprietary information, particularly given the growth of large-scale ôvirtual enterprises,ö where businesses must often release such information to potential competitors.
Today, many companies often form ôvirtual enterprisesö to execute large-scale engineering, construction, manufacturing and other projects. Essentially, these enterprises are electronically communicated networks of organizations formed to execute particular responsibilities. These enterprises might be for the short- or long-term. But in either case, the legal status of their electronic business communications must be clarified if each organizationÆs duties, responsibilities and liabilities are to be effectively communicated and enforced. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have led to and continue to support these enterprises. However, many legal issues remain surrounding the enforceability of online contracts and the electronic exchange of information.
Virtual enterprises are particularly important to an exploration of legal issues surrounding electronic business communications because these enterprisesÆ corporate existence is itself an electronic business. In a virtual enterprise, a specialized company will often perform certain critical processes while contra...