E-Commerce — UK Implementation: THE E-COMMERCE DIRECTIVE — THOUGHTS ON ISSUES RAISED DURING THE GOVERNMENT'S RECENT CONSULTATION, CONDUCTED PRIOR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE E-COMMERCE DIRECTIVE

Abstract

The Government has missed the deadline of 17 January 2002, by which time it should have implemented the E-Commerce Directive (the “Directive”). 1 1 Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce) (OJ L 178 17.7.2000, p.1.) http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_300L0031.html. Its excuse is that it wished to undertake a public Consultation to assess how the Directive's proposed implementation in the UK was being received. A spectrum of interested parties voiced their concerns and, in light of their submissions, this article assesses the pitfalls the Government must avoid if it is to implement the Directive in a way that achieves its goal of allowing information society service providers 2 2 Article 1 Directive 98/ 34/ EC of The European Parliament and of The Council of 22 June 1998 defines such a provider as an entity that provides services for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient. to operate freely in the Community, whilst protecting those that rely on such services.