Welcome to Lawshelf’s video-course on regulation of E-commerce transactions. This course focuses on regulatory steps to protect consumers in the online marketplace. This is a fast-moving field and laws and regulations are constantly being updated and refined. This is an intermediate-level course and draws on the basics of several other legal fields, such as contracts, the right to privacy, local taxation and administrative law. Still, it can be valuable even if you have no legal background.

Our first module applies the laws of contracts to e-commerce. We will look at the enforceability of contracts of adhesion and other e-commerce agreements. We will also focus on digital signatures, electronic records, filling gaps in standard online form agreements and other contract law issues unique to Internet-based commerce.

The second module focuses on privacy, both from a governmental perspective and privacy laws that limit commercial entities. We’ll also look at the Privacy Act of 1974 and more recent Internet-based privacy regulations and how they apply to E-commerce.

Our third module looks at various consumer protection laws, including federal laws regulating unsolicited emails and spyware. We’ll also focus on retail consumer protection laws, such as the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act.

In our fourth module, we’ll look at taxation of e-commerce transactions. A recent Supreme Court decision has changed the landscape of sales tax, allowing states much greater freedom to tax online sales. We’ll look at the issues that surround these taxes and the current state of affairs.

Finally, we’ll look at the Financial Services Modernization Act and other federal rules that govern the technology of online transactions. We’ll also look at the self-regulatory environment that companies have undertaken and best practices in the industry. We’ll also look at regulation of Internet gambling and crypto-currencies.

This course will give you a broad overview of many of the critical issues under which e-commerce operates and the myriads of regulations that have evolved to protect customers and ensure efficiency in the online marketplace.

Best of luck and we welcome your feedback.