Study On Several Legal Issues Of Online Group-buying

Online group-buying is a new development patter of e-commerce, which isfashionable all over the world in two years. As the rapid development of onlinegroup-buying, many legal issues appear, including: the unknown legitimate status andobscure responsibility and obligation of websites about online group-buying, theserious deception in online group-buying, the difference between the quality ofcommodities provided by supplies and the quality of commodities described by thegroup-buying websites, selling shoddy products, the unknown attribute ofsedimentation funds and its interests, and a lack of regulation. In view of the problemsin online group-buying, this paper tries to put forward countermeasures after fourchapters’ analysis.In the first chapter, the concept and types of online group-buying are introducedand the particularity of online group-buying is analyzed. Some legal issues aresummarily put forward in the first chapter, such as: the unknown legitimate status andobscure obligation of online group-buying service provider, the unknown attribute ofsedimentation funds and its interests of online group-buying, a lack of regulation, etc.In the second chapter, the legal status and responsibility of online group-buyingservice provider are analyzed. The related theories about the legal status of onlinegroup-buying service provider are introduced and assessed. The legal status of serviceprovider is defined on the basis of a standardized classification that whether theprovider participates in the management. In the third chapter, the attributes ofsedimentation funds and its interests of online group-buying are analyzed. Thedifferent views of real rights and creditor’s rights about sedimentation funds of onlinegroup-buying are introduced and assessed. Reasons and doubts that sedimentationfunds and its interests belong to consumer, group-buying website or supplier areanalyzed. The attributes of sedimentation funds and its interests are ascertained fromthe perspective of legal economics; that sedimentation funds and its interests areattributed to group-buying website is more conducive to save social cost, at the sametime, ascertaining the responsibility and obligation of group-buying website is goodfor counterbalancing the benefit of group-buying website, consumer and supplier. Inthe fourth chapter, the responsibility of online group-buying is studied. Criterion ofliability about online group-buying service provider is analysed, and their responsibility are fixed according to the different categories of tort liability anddefault responsibility. As to contract responsibility, the liabilities of releasing businessinformation and warranty are studied. As to tort liability, through classifying thedifferences between direct infringement and indirect infringement, the extent to whichthe service provider bears fraud liability and indirect infringement on trademark andpatent is analyzed.In the fifth chapter, the supervision of online group-buying isstudied. The regulatory principles that online group-buying should be moderatelysupervised, the rights and interest of consumer should be protected and thedevelopment of online group-buying should be promoted are put forward andestablished; This paper suggests to strenthen the accessing supervision. Through theanalyses of internet transaction inspecting system in Shanghai, this paper discuss thespecific regulations of online group-buying trading.