Untangling the Web: A Review of Certain Secure e-Commerce Legal Issues

A number of critical legal aspects in the area of secure e-commerce and cybertrade are examined including doing business on the internet and web sites. Key issues including compliance with data protection laws, web site ownership and hypertext linking are raised.The use of the internet for communication on an intercompany basis provides concerns over security, confidentiality, defamation, harassment and infringement and companies must consider implementing ground rules for the use of e-mail and the internet in order to reduce or avoid corporate liability as well as directors and officers own personal liability.The growth of cybertrade raises issues relating to the underlying legal and regulatory global infrastructure and at present whilst the technology exists the other infrastructures do not and therefore there are urgent needs for co-ordination on an international basis in this area in relation to public key infrastructures, validity of digital signatures, the implementation of guidelines for trusted th...