legal aspects of the ecommerce shop - ecommerce summit
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Legal aspects of the e-commerce shop
Stefan Van CampE-commerce summit 26 February 2014
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Core Rules and Compliance
• European Directives • Distance contracts directive• E-commerce directive• Consumer rights directive 2011 (information to consumer + distance
contracts)• Privacy
• Belgian law • Mainly E-commerce law 2003 / Market Practices Law 2010
• New Commercial Code 2014, books VI (market practices) and XII (electronic economy)
• Modifications December 2013
• Web sweeps: EU and UK: poor compliance
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Information (transparency)
Art. VI.45 Commercial Code : long list
Indication of name of the trader, address, e-mail address, telephone number, company register number– Combating fraud + transparency about location– Traceability of dangerous products, product recall, return address
German court case (insurance business): prejudicial question for EU Court of Justice – medium for urgent contact (telephone number) is really necessary, separate
from the e-mail medium
Contact form is not an e-mail address
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Information (transparency)
Main characteristics of products and services
Total price (taxes, costs of shipment : at least a warning) – Explicit consent of consumer for extra costs
Payment modes, delivery, lead times, complaints policy
Reminder of the legal consumer sales guarantee (2 years) or commercial guarantee
Functionality and interoperability of digital content
(Minimum) duration of contract
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Information to be provided before final order
the different technical steps to follow to conclude the contract
whether or not the concluded contract will be filed by the trader and whether it will be accessible (not a requirement)
the technical means for identifying and correcting input errors prior to the order; (e.g. backtrack; doubles entries; illogical input)
the languages offered for the conclusion of the contract
relevant codes of conduct (accessible) – e.g. environmental or fair trade logos
explicit warning: “order with payment obligation”
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3 typical terms and conditions
General terms and conditions for sale / services– Price, warranty, delivery, lead times, maintenance, applicable law (excluding
Vienna convention), jurisdiction– Indication of updates
Website Use terms and conditions (“disclaimer”)
Privacy policy (statement)
(Sometimes separate cookie policy)– Use of cookies (more developed in the Netherlands)
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Right to withdraw
Information on existence of the right of withdrawal
In principle : right of withdrawal within 14 days after delivery– 12 months / 14 months in case of insufficient information
Not applicable to certain deliveries (e.g. tailored goods, opened software, downloaded digital content, immediate services)– Indicate that the right of withdrawal does not exist
Limitations (art.11 Consumer rights directive)
Direct cost of return shipment borne by consumer (if he was warned)
Confirmation of order : reminder of right of withdrawal
Model form for withdrawal
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Further consumer protection
Late delivery : warning by consumer and right to terminate
Extra fee for certain modes of payment – maximum the cost for the trader
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Privacy policy
Use of cookies (sometimes separate policy)
Profiling
Direct marketing : opt in for direct marketing
Indication of data processors
Sharing information
Right to review and correct data
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Diverse Rules and Issues
• Contracting – evidence : digital signature
• Electronic invoice (VAT Code)
• Competition rules applied to internet (Guidelines 2010)• E.g. exclusivity contracts
• Payments
• Data protection (cloud)
• Domain names
• Games, contests, lottery etc.
• Unsolicited e-mails
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Diverse Rules and Issues
• Sales (soldes) on the internet ?
• Publicity rules• Comparative publicity• Misleading publicity
• Consumer sales : legal guarantee (2 years)• Liability of platforms (counterfeited products)• International jurisdiction (consumers)
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CBEC
Cross-border Ecommerce Community
support Merchants, Payment Service Providers, ISOs and Acquiring Banks within the CNP Payment Industry
information on every aspect of international ecommerce
Payvision, The Paypers, PAY.ON, ReD, World IT Lawyers (time.lex)
country profiles, reports and infographics – http://www.thepaypers.com/cross-border-ecommerce/
• latest trends, opinion articles and editorials by industry experts via www.crossborder-ecommerce.com microsite.
About us
International business law firmcommercial contracts, sale and supply agreements, market practices, unfair competition, distribution, franchising, product safety/recalls, consumer protection, litigation/arbitration/mediation, debt recovery
Who we are
Native speakers on board
Our team
International : members of the Bars of Brussels, Madrid and Thessaloniki and international network of legal professionals
With a passion for the protection of intangible assets intellectual property, technology, internet, data protection
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