Why e commerce is regulated by laws and guidelines

Finally, businesses can rely upon state and federal laws, including the Lanham Act, as a basis to send infringing third parties cease-and-desist letters or to bring suit. The most common restriction that impacts brand enforcement efforts in the United States is the unavailability of WHOIS data or other contact information for bad actors. Since the passage of the GDPR, domain name registrars have been less forthcoming with providing contact information of registrants, making it difficult to contact or otherwise to locate a third-party malfeasor.

Jurisdictional challenges can also arise in enforcing brands. Trademark rights are largely territorial, making it difficult to enforce these rights against infringing activity occurring outside of the United States, and it can be difficult to find a jurisdictional hook over a foreign defendant. Even if jurisdiction is proper, a foreign defendant may refuse to appear, and enforcing judgment over same may be difficult.

Finally, it can be difficult to enforce brands against secondary or contributory infringers, such as online service providers, who may hide behind their purported lack of knowledge of infringing activity or may purport to lack the ability to control the infringing activity.

The relative sophistication of the customer seeking data storage services and the service provider determine the respective bargaining power of the parties. In many cases, smaller customers do not have much flexibility in negotiating such service contracts.

Environmental laws and regulations should be considered; generally, a data centre is subject to no greater or more stringent environmental regulations than any other large building. Development in some areas, however, may involve national or California Environmental Quality Act review, air quality considerations, and issues that arise from regulations governing protection of wetlands and endangered species.

More than 20 states many, coastal have enacted electronic waste legislation. If setting up a data centre involves modification of specific zoning characterisations, relevant city ordinances and council hearing determinations should be observed.

If the data centre supplies its own power by use of solar panels, co-generation, or other means, or merely wants to install uninterruptible power sources, it is wise to consider applicable environmental issues, regulations of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and possible tax incentives. The Automated Commercial Environment ACE is the system through which the trade community reports imports and exports and the United States government determines admissibility. Import manifests, entries for consumption, warehousing and bonding, post-entry submissions, such as protests and duty drawbacks, are all examples of transactions and data that must be filed electronically through ACE.

The comprehensive use of ACE has resulted in reduced wait times at cargo points of entry and the faster processing of entries, bonds, and refunds. As currently drafted, the USMCA seeks to ensure that data can be transferred cross-border, that limits on where data can be stored and processed are minimised, and that suppliers are not restricted in their use of electronic authentication or electronic signatures. Digital technologies, in theory, should lower the cost of trade, thereby providing smaller businesses across the globe access to trading opportunities.

These efforts take time and monetary investment. Issues concerning inclusiveness, privacy protection, and cybersecurity are likely to remain high priority discussion points within the future governance of digital trade.

Governments will need to work together to develop a favourable legal framework, address competition issues, standardise intellectual property rules, and address challenges related to incompatible infrastructure for seamless information technology. Prior to and the U. Wayfair , e-commerce businesses in the United States generally were required to collect state sales tax from customers only in states in which the e-commerce business had a physical presence.

Generally, such laws have a small sales exception that exempt businesses from sales tax registration in that state if they do not satisfy a particular economic threshold. What qualifies for the exception varies greatly by state. Federally, the United States offers a research and development credit to businesses in an amount equal to certain sums specified by statute, which could apply to at least some digital businesses.

Moreover, taxing authorities and jurisdictions are increasingly taking the position that they can appropriately tax digital companies, even where those entities have little or no physical nexus to the jurisdiction. This can result in multiple jurisdictions assessing taxes on the same revenues or income of digital companies based on various, non-uniform rules. Another issue involves determining whether certain research or development constitutes qualified research within the context of the research and development tax credit discussed above.

In particular, please comment on the advantages and disadvantages of the available employment status models. There are two primary considerations concerning resourcing work in the United States.

The first involves finding an available, qualified talent pool, and then incurring training costs for and protecting trade secrets with a sourced worker who may terminate engagement after receiving training.

Various aspects of these considerations are addressed on state and local levels, which means that a business may need to consult applicable law in multiple jurisdictions. It is not unusual to attempt to address these and other issues in the United States via consulting agreements, employment agreements, or other on-boarding documents that the sourced talent is required to sign.

Writing includes printing, typewriting, or any other intentional reduction to tangible form. An argument can be made that data stored in computer memory is not considered sufficiently tangible to satisfy the statute of frauds. However, the data can be printed at any time. In addition, electronic transactions are really akin to telegrams and telexes, both of which have been held to satisfy the writing requirement of the statute of frauds.

The subscription signature requirement of the statute of frauds can be satisfied by a single writing or by a series of writings. For purposes of the statute, if one of a series of papers relating to the same matter is signed by the party to be charged, that is sufficient, as all the papers are to be considered together in evidencing one contract or memorandum.

The UCC has no formal requirements for a signature, only that it appears for the purpose to authenticate the writing. Instead of a name, the signature arguably can be an initial or a symbol.

If an e-mail is sent, the sender identification in the header of an e-mail will be sufficient to show authentication. E-mail software can create a signature that includes name, job title, and phone number. These facts may help to establish new law as to what binds a person to an internet contract, but the law remains far from established. The proposed Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code will likely resolve many of the issues surrounding the statute of frauds in online contracts regarding the sale of goods.

Originally designed to address only software licenses, Article 2B has grown to include online licenses, subscription agreements, and other forms of electronic contracts. It is highly likely that the law allowing online signatures will be expanded. Each State must adopt its own version of the UCC and that process is continuing at this time.

Other Acts that will provide some relief from the statute of frauds and which are discussed above are:. There are few legal requirements imposed to create a Web page. The first act to perform is to secure the rights to use the domain name that you choose.

This requires registering the name with a domain administrator. There are a number of domain name registration services around the world. ICANN is a nonprofit corporation that has been delegated responsibility by the United States government to coordinate Internet technical functions, including management of the Internet domain name system.

It also provides arbitration resources to resolve conflicts as to web names and domain names. Once one secures the domain name registration, the process of starting an e-commerce business will be much the same as any other business enterprise.

For example, one may want to use a limited liability entity. One will also need to enter into numerous contractual relationships in order to secure the services and products that are required to get the business up and running. One must pay close attention to any contracts that are required, as they may have significant results. Having a good CPA and legal advice is as necessary as hiring the right employees or picking the right name for the business.

One must also be aware of the issues surrounding intellectual property, including copyright, trademarks and patent rights. Or you can bundle them into an international price. For example, European and Australian shoppers are accustomed to seeing all-inclusive prices. To promote sustainability, many states are introducing taxation on activities and items that may be harmful to the environment.

The state also has a pending proposal for a new ecotax, which would be charged on each individual item packed in single-use plastic. If enacted, it would take effect starting in International businesses should also be mindful of local ecotaxes. For example, Europe is way ahead in charging extras for non-sustainable products, shipping or packaging practices. Takeaway: To cover all your bases, talk to a tax professional or local tax authorities. Keep in mind, too, that this information — and the regulations around it — are constantly changing!

Payment gateways are the lifeline for securely processing customer payments. Not to mention result in indirect losses associated with damage to your brand image.

Breaches are also common. For instance, last year one payment processor admitted to exposing over 1. So stay vigilant when it comes to selecting a payment processor. Prioritize solutions with:. Trademarks, patents and copyrights are considered business intellectual property and, thus, protected by respective laws.

In other words, if you take the appropriate steps with respect to your intellectual property, you may be afforded legal protections that prevent other brands from using your intellectual property without your consent. For instance, if you want to sell t-shirts with Star Wars characters on them, you will want to obtain the appropriate consents to avoid any legal issues. Also, you may want to consider copyright protection for your ecommerce website.

Some of the applicable copyright laws to keep in mind:. Research with the appropriate copyright, patent and trademark organizations such as the US Patent and Trademark Office. Shipping restrictions. Ecommerce shipping can be mind-boggling at times since logistics companies have different rates, rules and restrictions for shipping different types of products. Most shipping companies clearly note their restricted items. Some commonly-restricted items are:.

Also, note that some providers may allow you to ship normally restricted items, but they will require some extra paperwork and fees. They also have information on the shipping taxes, duties and imports. Takeaway: Not all shippers restrict the same items.

Research different providers to determine the costs and requirements for shipping your type of product. While your determination is alive and well, believe it or not, your business may be too large to legally run out of your home. Even if you plan to run a small online business, some property laws can still apply to you. Thus, y ou may be surprised to learn that you could benefit from having a brick-and-mortar location or warehouse in the early stages of your online business!

Try leveraging a partnership with a shipping and fulfillment company that specializes in dropshipping or 3PLs. By using a dropshipping or 3PL service, you reduce shipping zones, or the distance packages travel, which will typically reduce the cost of shipping and time in transit. A win-win for both your business and your customers. Takeaway: Learn about home-based business regulations, applicable to your ecommerce niche. Pay attention to general business licenses, zoning restrictions and health and safety permits.

Age restrictions. This act includes quite a few regulations, but one that will likely apply to your site is the inability to collect any personal information from a child under the age of Takeaway: Every country is different as far as their demands on how to run a business.

Things get especially tricky when it comes to age restrictions on products. Do your research and stay on top of legislation to ensure your business is on the up-and-up.

Business insurance. If you operate as a registered business entity such as a limited liability company LLC , your personal assets may already be protected. Remember the story about a burning hoverboard? Well, the family was allowed to sue Amazon even though the company acted as an intermediary for another seller who sold a faulty gadget. Product liability insurance could protect you against such scenarios. As per Decree 85, a website is deemed providing e-commerce services if it provides the following conditions:.

Thus, social networks would be liable for regulation as e-commerce platforms if they meet the aforementioned conditions but also make their subscribers directly or indirectly pay a fee to carry out these activities. An example would be the Facebook marketplace. While foreign businesses are required to comply with Vietnamese laws, Vietnamese e-commerce providers are required to verify the identities of foreign businesses selling goods on their e-commerce platforms.

They are also required to do the following:. The purpose of the new law is to impose tax obligations on merchants, whether local or foreign, on Vietnam-sourced income from local individual customers.

The previous withholding tax system could only hold local companies liable for such obligations and the new regulation aims to rectify such a billion-dollar-shortfall of tax collection. Foreign businesses including those involved with cross-border e-commerce and B2C e-commerce businesses must comply with local laws.

As per the Decree, foreign traders engaged in e-commerce activities is defined as:. For such, the foreign business will be required to set up a representative office in Vietnam. In addition, foreign businesses are required to appoint a legal representative or set up a representative office in Vietnam if they carry out the following e-commerce activities:.

Under the last bullet point, the Ministry of Industry and Trade MoIT in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communications , Ministry of Finance and so on, will regulate the threshold for the number of transactions or purchases. Any imported or exported goods are subject to customs procedures and e-commerce providers are required to cooperate with the relevant authorities to prevent the illegal transaction of goods and services.