In addition, the nature of the Web can lead to the transaction actually flowing through 10 or even 20 countries in between the seller and the buyer.
Offer and Acceptance.
Traditionally the law of English speaking countries has relied on the concept of offer and acceptance to define the conclusion of a contract. However, offer and acceptance requires a face to face or at least written exchange where the offer is accepted in the exact same terms. An offer provided on-line may be accepted in a number of different.
ways as long as it is reasonable.
Writing.
The English legal system developed a requirement that certain forms of contract had to be in writing. This stemmed from fraudulent claims about oral contracts and resulted in the Statute of Frauds which required certain contracts to be in writing signed by the parties to that contract. The legacy of this statute exists in the legal systems of most.
English speaking countries, however, transactions over the internet do not necessarily have to be in writing and certainly will not be signed in the traditional sense. Digital signatures are developing to cover this legal aspect, but they are still in their infancy.
Payment.
Payment is perhaps the most interesting of the problems faced by store keepers and consumers. For some reason there is a perception that giving credit card information over the Web is somehow inherently riskier than providing the same details by fax or phone. Developments in cryptography and the ability to use such concepts as private and public keys is leading to less concern about the security of the Web and will, hopefully improve the access of the average consumer to the Net. .
Warranties.
Warranties about the merchantability of goods and their fitness for the purpose for which they are bought are built into the statutes of most countries. .
Liability.
The flip side of the warranties issue is the liability issue. If you buy goods and services online from the US and they are faulty or require repair, is the local distributor of similar goods liable to repair them? Most distributors are loathing to service or replace such goods or services because:.