Critically evaluate the above statement, explaining the various legal Essay - 1

Critically evaluate the above statement, explaining the various legal implications and legislative concerns of e-commerce which deserve a greater attention from business regulators and law legislators - Essay Example Increased individual autonomy for shoppers poses questions on the legal validity of contracts. The convenience of buying goods or services from any part of the world affects the enforceability of transactions especially when disputes arise. Likewise, increased liberty may expose consumers to infringement of rights to privacy. It is critical for legal stakeholders to familiarise themselves with these legal concerns in order to guard against loss of business due to these issues. One of the primary challenges in handling ecommerce transactions is the lack of physical signatures. E-commerce transactions take place without paper or other physical representations of transactions. In traditional business settings, handwritten signatures authenticate contracts by providing a unique form of identification for the signee (Chaudhury and Jean-Pierre, 2002). They also assist in showing the association between the person and the document being signed. Traditional signatures are highly useful in proving that the signee was actually involved in the transaction. E commerce also has its own form of authentication called the electronic signature. Sometimes it is in the form of a secret code, a pin number, a typed name or a scanned image of one’s handwritten signature (Frieden and Sean Patrick, 2006). Digital signatures may also be used; these ones come in the form of encrypted messages that only respond to a specific key when being decrypted. The latter form is highly secure in comparison to other electronic signatures. Regardless of the type of signatures chosen, certain legal implications still exist. Stakeholders are yet to decide on the circumstances in which electronic signatures ought to be trusted. Furthermore, it is still unclear whether these signatures hold the same weight as traditional ones. Some signatures seem to hold greater authenticity than others. Business persons are still