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14. And the Future…E-commerce and its underlying technologies are developing so quickly, it is a dangerous game to guess where they are going. Nevertheless, some clear trends are apparent. Mobile e-commerce is a key growth area, which Europe is just experimenting with at the time of writing. Already it is possible to browse the web and buy things with a mobile telephone. How this will pan out and what the killer applications will be are not clear now. But business and investors are excited about the possibilities, and new mobile e-commerce ventures are popping up every day. More importantly, there are more mobile telephones than PC computers in Europe. So, there can be little doubt that in five years time, a European browsing the net is more likely to be doing so via a mobile device than a computer. Indeed, this is already the case in Japan. Clearly, when the consumer is mobile in a Europe without frontiers, there will be some complex regulatory issues in the areas of applicable law, jurisdiction and VAT that will need resolving. Ubiquitous Internet and computing is another growth area. This involves devices other than a PC computer connected to the Internet. These devices could be anything from the climate control system of a house which can be controlled from the owner’s mobile telephone, to a rubbish bin that notices when certain food containers are thrown away and reorders from the local supermarket. More elaborately, intelligent agents in a house’s central computer might negotiate with various electrical generation and supply sources to obtain the best electricity deal for the owner. When household agents negotiate with intelligent agents belonging to an electrical company (or telecommunications company or any other service), there are some interesting liability and contractual questions that will need to be resolved. At the same time, many other exciting avenues of e-business are being explored and likely some commonplace technologies of tomorrow have yet to be envisioned today. In any event, the European Commission is preparing a legal framework for electronic commerce that will ensure consistent laws across the EU, thereby facilitating trade. This should largely be in place in the next few years. Then it will only be a matter of ensuring that legislation keeps up with the technological developments – or at least doesn’t fall too far behind. Concluding Words This guide reflects the current status of European legislation and is based on the experience of available best practice. However, legislation and business models are rapidly changing in the world of e-business. Up-to-date legal resources should be consulted for new information, and legal advisors consulted for detailed information and interpretation. The Commission provides a lot of information on the Internet and, as an umbrella information source, we recommend the e-commerce web site: http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ecommerce/Welcome.html Here you can find most of the relevant issues, with operable links to the other services of the Commission relevant to e-commerce. The authors welcome feedback on this publication to improve it in future editions and to serve the needs of our customers as best we can. |
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