On Online Retailing Crimes

Online retailing is one of the rising modes of business. Based on powerful internet technology, it witnesses dramatic development and recognition of consumers with its unique merits. As technology is double-sworded, new types of crime concerning online retailing are on the rise. Therefore, customers experience anxiety and irritation alongside with the convenience online retailing offers them. Thus, it is imperative that the prevention and punishment regarding such crimes in both theory and practice are to be discussed and dealt with.In the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, there is no specific category for online retailing crimes though certain concerned crimes have been promulgated in other categories in the law such as illegal provision, obtaining or selling of personal information, fraud and racketeering, damaging business and commodity reputation and smuggling. Therefore, the author of the thesis feels it imperative to set up a new category to deal with online crimes specifically. By doing so, the ever increasing crimes in the field of online retailing can be discussed so that a better protection from the law will provide a better environment for online retailing in the manner of both theory and practice.This thesis is composed of three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. The body covers four chapters respectively. The first chapter is an introduction of online retailing crimes, which gives the definition of the online retailing crime in the first place, tells the difference between such crimes and that of the computer technology; in the second place, focus is given to features, types as well as causes leading to online retailing crimes to present a comparatively overall view of online retailing crimes.The second chapter is a reflection of illegal provision of personal information in online retailing, which discusses the identification illegal provision of personal information, extension of crime subject, the limitation of subjects whose information must be protected, and the factors determining the degree to which the crime is identified while two suggestions for consideration: online retailers, service platform-running businesses, logistics companies and their staff can be crime subjects; “citizen” is to be deleted to extend the protection of information subjects.The third chapter deals with improper credit evaluation, which classifies the types of improper credit evaluation for the discussion of proper crimes applying to them, while on rationality of prohibition of improper credit evaluation and three factors to consider when applying the such accusation is elaborated.The fourth chapter concentrates on online co-purchasing smuggling, which presents a picture of online co-purchasing and proposes that subjects whose private trans-national co-purchasing can be identified as smuggling in its form and nature based on related regulations in the custom law, while the connotation of “unsanctioned” ought to be interpreted as “not given a criminal sanction”.