Study On Several Legal Issues Of Electronic Contract

With the development of the technology of internet and the wide use of electronic computer, the society of mankind witnesses the approaching information age in which the electronic business develops with a very high speed. As a means of transaction, electronic business normally is accomplished by electronic contract from the perspective of legal revelation. Electronic contract, the new type of contract, gets transaction running more efficiently with invisible net space as its carrier and electronic data as its transmitted content, without any limit of time and space, becoming the standard and essential transaction mode in the information age.Compared with traditional contract, electronic contract differs a lot which challenges the traditional contract from contract-making and dispute solution. Actually, legal issues about electronic contract are very sophisticated. However, the author argues that the special issues, which have never appeared in traditional contract, stem from the electronic feature of the meanings expressed by the contract, such as the form, existence and effectiveness of electronic contract, the identification of parties and effectiveness, as well as a large number of electronic format contracts with the special media- internet. Therefore, the present paper attempts to explore the electronic meaning expression and its relative issues, which are debating in the present.The present paper falls into five parts. First, the introduction presents the definition of electronic contract. Second, reviewing the status quo of legislation abroad and domestically, the author also probes into features of electronic contract and the necessity of legislation of electronic contract in China.Chapter one deals with issues of electronic declaration of will. The author firstly introduces the definition, classification, form and features of electronic declaration of will, then analyzes and evaluates three major problems: the identification of offer and acceptance in the electronic contract; the issue of giving effect to electronic declaration of will, and the withdrawal and the revocability of the declaration of will. The paper holds the point that the standard to judge the information in the Internet to be offer should be the essential of the E-Business. So the information in the service trade can be seen as offer, while the information in the goods trade cannot As one form of contract, no matter how short between the arrival of offer and made of acceptance, the revocable right of the offerer shouldn't be ripped.Chapter two is on the issue of electronic signature, emphasizing in the legal statues,effect of electronic signature, the risk and responsibility of certificate authority. The author believes though the certificate authority takes the duty of tort and breach, when the user ignore keeping electronic signature safely resulting the damage of the signature, the certificate authority can get away from the responsibility. That's to say, although there have been regular guides on the obligations of certificate authority, certificate authority also has the right to put the limitations of liability in the contract with users in the form of standard terms in the legal limit.Chapter three is on the problem of electronic agent. The author firstly analyses the legal status of electronic agent and thinks that the results of electronic agent automatic transaction should belong to the final controller who will take the binding. But considering the transaction safeness, the author support that usually the electronic agent's controller takes the responsibility and the transaction counter partner takes in the case he should know or has known the fault and insist on it.Chapter four talks about the electronic standard form contract. The author points that the effectiveness of electronic standard form contract should base on the efficiency but not on fairness. On this doctrine click agreement fits the immediate and quick request of E-Business. Shrink-wrap license agreement can not only reduce the transaction cost but als...