Online Contract Formation

The legal system has had to adjust rapidly to the development of Internet commerce, and it is difficult for the practitioner to remain atop these legal developments around the world. This work by Kinsella (general counsel and vice president-intellectual property, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., US) and Simpson (an associate with Arculli and Associates, Hong Kong) aims to serve lawyers, legislators, judges, and other interested parties with a resource to aid in the process. They first present 20 jurisdiction-specific commentaries summarizing the online contract law in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the US, and Vietnam. They then present sample forms and agreements and some primary source material, including the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act of 1999, and the UNCITRAL Draft Convention on Electronic Contracting. Also included are four topical commentaries on such issues as the general state of online contract law, international jurisdiction in European e-commerce contracts, and personal jurisdiction in Internet-related litigation. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stephan Kinsella, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., and Andrew Simpson, New Zealand Commerce Commission