Consumer Protection. Online Trading

With the rapid development of information technology, online transaction as a new commerce mode is popular with consumers and merchants. On the one hand, online transaction extends market scope and increases business information; on the other hand, it also makes consumers have more choice. But the rapid development of online transaction and information technology still do not charge consumers' vulnerable status. On the contrary, the unreality and uncertainty of Internet raise new challenge to legal protection of consumers' rights and interests. But respond to these kinds of challenge are the honors and mission that history gives the lawman from the beginning. Under this background, this article pays attention to legal protection of consumers' rights and interests in the online transaction conditions, and connects with the present situation of internal and external consumers' protection experience, therefore tries to put forward some constructive proposal. The monograph consists of four parts.Since online transaction is sill unfamiliar to most people, the first part introduced the fundamental theories on legal protection of online consumer. Firstly, the author clarified the difference between online transaction and Electronic Commerce, illuminated the new characteristics and classification of the online transaction. These presentations established the logic basis of this article. Secondarily, from the point of view of economics and economic law, the author expounded the theoretical basis of protection of online consumer. In fact, the relationship between consumers and merchants is like a "game playing". The point of the realization of consumers' rights and interests is that make equilibrium of power between each other. But information technology and Internet make their strength become imbalance. Therefore, economic law which aims at remedy for market's limitation, essential justice and social unity's benefits should responds to these problems. Online consumers deserve to be equally protected just as traditional consumers. Furthermore, the article pointed out that the protection of online consumers should orient its value to law efficiency that contains equity. Subsequently on the second part, the author analyzed the present status of online consumers' protection in China and the problems existed. Although the Chinese government made a clear and affirmatory policy on the development of information economic, the rules of online consumers' protection in our country is simple relative to the developed countries. Generally speaking, the legislations in respect of Internet still focus on the supervision of computer, Internet and the validity of electronic data and so on, the rules of online transaction including consumers' protection lacks of essential regulations. Furthermore, the inadaptability of present legal framework to online transaction embodied into a series of new problems which involves such as the definition identity of transaction parties, information disclosure of operator, online auction fraud, unfair click-warp contract, purchase return and exchange, the rights of education and online disputes resolution. Actually, these problems derive from the traditional consumer problems.The third part reviewed the policy and legislations of online consumers' protection in abroad. With the development of online transaction, many countries and international organizations in the world have worked out a lot of theories and legislations on online consumers' protection, such as OECD, United States and the European Union. Although there are differences in economic background and legal traditions among countries, they came to common understanding that the protection of online consumers is a system engineering: on the one hand, paying attention to legislations, on the other hand, encouraging the enterprises, consumers groups and the other social organizations to engage in this program. All of these aspects boost forming the cooperative pattern between government's legal regulating and professional's self-discipline. At the same time, they seek for international cooperation. At present, the countries that engaged in online transaction early have transferred their focus from the validity of electronic contracts or signature into cultivating consumers' trust atmosphere. Since online transaction is of globality, these advanced experience provide for our country to draw lessons from.In the fourth part, the author put forward the legislative conceiving on perfecting the institutions of online consumer protection. This part includes two aspects: the basic principles and the concrete institution. The basic principles of online consumer protection contain four points: the principle of bringing new rules into the current legal framework. Online transaction is the same essence of traditional commerce, thus current legal framework can make some changes to fit it. The second principle is protecting consumers. Thirdly, the level of consumer protection should adapt to the economic development. The last principle is that forming the cooperative pattern between government's legal regulating and professional's self-discipline. These basic principles should be established firstly, and the latter part is the concrete institution design guided by the principles and aim at being resolutions to the problems aforementioned. The concrete institution include six aspects, as following: regulation to online parties which demands reality and validity of parties, constructing register and publishing institution; the obligation of information disclosure which contains the way and rules of disclosure; the regulation to the click-warp contract; the rules of purchase return and exchange which based on our country's conditions; the online disputes resolution which is advantaged with more efficiency than lawsuit; the consumer groups' function in consumer education and the third party's restriction should be emphasized.