Basics of Electronic Commerce
- Class Summary
This class introduces a basic foundation of the environment supporting electronic transactions, including providing a definition of what the internet is in terms of technology, policy, and economics. The internet provides a new means to use existing and new electronic communications technology taking advantage of the public switched telephone system and enhancing it with packet switching technology for the flow of data. The internet provides a new means to permit accessibility of information by distributing ownership, controls, and operation of the networks that form the internet through their interconnections. Lastly, the internet provides a new economy by permitting the disaggregation of product value and openning markets to providers limiting their operations to single or selected value-add market segments.
- Class Slides
Secondary Sources
- Bruno Deffains and Jane K. Winn, Governance of Electronic Commerce in Consumer and Business Markets, (September 2008).
Contract law provides a framework within which economic relationships can be established and administered, while electronic commerce (e-commerce) provides tools for reducing the costs of those activities. Application of traditional contract law concepts to e-commerce may result in uncertainty which may diminish the efficiency gains from technological innovation. This paper looks at the impact of e-commerce on the governance structures of commercial relationships generally, and in three specific major areas of commercial activity that have been most affected by e-commerce in recent decades.
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- Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 17
- Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 30
Cases
- Xanthopoulos v. Thomas Cook Inc., 629 F.Supp. 164 (S.D.N.Y. 1985).
Individual sued travelers check issuer for wrongful dishonor of travelers checks. Judgment for defendant issuer because travelers checks dishonored were forged, forgery was not indorsement that would make individual a holder, individual's testimony showed lack of good faith in the acceptance of the checks, and the issuer did not owe the individual a duty of care to detect or prevent forgery under the circumstances.
- ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir. 1996).
Review of the order of the trial court declining to issue appellant an injunction on the basis that its license was ineffectual since it was contained within packaged software. Even though the terms of the license were included within the package, the court held that the license was to be treated as an ordinary contract accompanying the sale of products, because its terms afforded the purchaser an opportunity to review the product and its terms before being bound.
- DeMando v. Morris, 206 F.3d 1300 (9th Cir. 2000).
Cardholder appealed grant of summary judgment for bank against allegations that bamk violated Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Court noted that plaintiff had stated a claim against the bank under the TILA, for issuing a disclosure that failed to reflect terms of the underlying credit agreement and even though the error was unintentional, the bank failed to explain procedures employed to avoid reasonably the error.