Viewpoint

1. E-commerce and the legislation of the Internet have achieved great progress (Legislation here is in the broad sense).  The system, involving Internet security, encoding, infrastructure construction, financing, advertisement, operation admission, news press, has been formed and basically complies with the international standard.

2. With the judgments on some important cases, courts at different levels have accepted some basic principles.  Some cases were decided through the justice process. The settlement and implementation of these basic principles helped judges to settle conflicts without stipulated law articles and to keep the society stable.  In a certain sense, the principles extend the force of laws.

3. In regards to issues of administrative management of E-commerce and the Internet, departments such as industrial and commercial organs, and copyright authorizations, have made significant progress.

4. Backwardness of legislation on information technology is inevitable, and we may be too late in action, especially in some key fields such as the effectiveness of e-signatures, establishment of authentication, the legal duty of E-commerce operators, and operation admissions.  Since there are no clear laws and regulations, the basic legal relations of E-commerce are unable to be guaranteed, and thereby hinder the development of E-commerce.

5. The current implementation of E-commerce laws and regulations only imitates the old economic management model. There are no really practical legislative principles and management models adaptable to E-commerce and network economy.

6. Currently, there are still too many “thresholds” in E-commerce legislation.  Related organs and their regulations lack necessary coordination.  Regions and regional regulations are not compatible.  In some cases, some enterprises are forced into situations where they must tackle with problems without knowing what to do.

I.      Overview of the E-commerce environment in China in 2000 and 2001

1.     Categories of E-commerce legal issues

 a. Legal issues in E-commerce transaction

 b. Legal issues of related policies in E-commerce supervision

 c. Legal security issues in E-commerce

 d. Legal issues related to E-commerce information

 e. Legal issues related to E-commerce technology

 f. Legal issues for procedures related to E-commerce

2.     Policy and regulations of E-commerce in China

3.     Related cases and analyses on E-commerce in China

 a. General view of E-commerce related cases in China

 b. Introduction of some of the E-commerce cases in China

 c. Analyses of some of E-commerce cases in China

4.     Memorandum of E-commerce events in China in 2000 and 2001

Chapter Highlights

By analyzing E-commerce legal cases and reviewing the development history of E-commerce in China, this chapter summarizes the history of legislation concerning E-commerce in China and issues to be dealt with.

II. Summary of E-commerce policy environment in China in 2000 and 2001

1.    Background summary

2.    Main issues in E-commerce policy and legislation and analysis of related statistic results

 a. Security of online transactions is a barrier for the development of E-commerce

 b. Payment, distribution, and after-sale service of E-commerce needs to be further developed.

 c. Online junk mail needs to be regulated.

 d. Online piracy still runs rampant.

 f. Registration competition and domain conflicts never stop.

 g. Web page links are not unified.

 h. Online news distribution needs to be regulated.

Chapter Highlights

This chapter analyzes every sector in E-commerce, summarizes various factors that limit the development of E-commerce, and proposes suggestions on the regulation of E-commerce development.

III.           Implementation of policies and laws in E-commerce in 2000 and 2001

1.       General views on the practice of policies and laws in E-commerce

2.       Summary of related registration and permission of E-commerce in China

   a. Admission on general operation of websites

   b. Admission on special business operation of websites

3.       Solutions to E-commerce enterprises’ legal issues

Chapter Highlights

This chapter makes a study on legal issues of the E-commerce of special businesses, specifying some examples of E-commerce enterprises’ legal issues.  It also makes suggestions on E-commerce legislation issues.

IV. Vision on the policy and legal environment of E-commerce in China from 2001 to 2003

1. Influence of joining WTO on E-commerce policy and legal environment

a. Main rules in the WTO related to E-commerce

b. Analysis of the influence of joining the WTO on E-commerce in China

c. Gap between China’s E-commerce policies and rules and the rules of the WTO

2. The future of China’s E-commerce legislation

a. Thoughts on laws to be issued

b. Thoughts on laws to be revised

c. Thoughts on section regulations and rules to be issued

d. Coordination with international organizations such as WTO、WIPO

e. Thoughts on related policies to be made

f. Thoughts on standards to be settled

3. The future of China’s telecom legislation

Chapter Highlights

By analyzing the changing factors in the legislation environment, this chapter makes suggestions on the further development of laws and regulations. It also envisions the stipulation and issue of laws and regulations.