The Regulations, properly called the Electronic Commerce (EC
Directive) Regulations 2002, implement the EU's E-commerce
Directive into UK law, albeit over eight months behind
schedule.
They introduce a limited “country of origin” principle, certain
information and e-mail and text messaging requirements, and also
address the liability of ISPs and other so-called
intermediaries.
Struan Robertson, editor of OUT-LAW.COM, said:
"Almost every business will need to make
changes to its web site to comply with these Regulations. Most will
not have done so because, although late, the final Regulations were
only published earlier this month.
"Fortunately, for most businesses the
changes are straightforward. Every web site should provide certain
clear information, clarifying who is running the service, together
with full contact information and details that may not previously
have appeared on the site, such as the registered VAT number of
that business.
"For those involved in e-commerce, more
changes may be necessary. But some of these can benefit the
business, by giving it discretion in stating the point at which a
contract is formed on the web site - something that helps to avoid
the potential losses incurred in a web site pricing error such as
that experienced recently by Kodak."
