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OIC SUBMISSION E-COMMERCE BPM 25/11/99:
C - INFORMATION CONTRACTURAL
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY E-COMMERCE BUSINESS OPERATION 17-20
17 E-COMMERCE BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
The example provided in the Treasury Public Consultation paper appears to limit
e-commerce to Applicable Law and Forum physical goods and services.
Whilst developing the framework for e-commerce attention has to be given to incorporate
intellectual property transactions as we move into the Information Age.
Hence Information - Contractual could have 3 different aspects:
1 Physical goods and materials - books, CDs etc
2 Services - travel etc
3 Intellectual property - solicitors, management consultants, architects,
s/w developers etc
1 Physical Goods and Material
The items listed in (17) appear to be appropriate
2 Services
The items listed in (17) appears to cater for many services
3 Intellectual Property
A different set of conditions are required for Intellectual Property contacts.
An outline example of Intellectual Property terms and conditions could be
I Contract type: eg A Design a new extension or
B Specify electronic commerce integration
II Stages: Example A Duration Estimate
$ 60/hr
A Design New extension
1 Review current plans 4 hrs $ 240
2 Measure walls and layout 2 hrs $ 120
3 Discuss new design requirement 2 hrs $ 120
4 Draft diagram 2 hrs $ 120
5 Final layout 2 hrs $ 120
6 Building specification 6 hrs $ 360
Total 18 hrs $ 1,080
Example B Duration Estimate
$ 60/hr
B Specify Electronic commerce integration
1 survey current systems 4 hrs $ 240
2 determine management e-commerce 4 hrs $ 240
3 review key partners e-commerce 8 hrs $ 480
4 define management reports 4 hrs $ 240
5 specify detailed eC require'ts 16 hrs $ 960
6 produce detailed program specs 12 hrs $ 720
Total 48 hrs $ 2,880
C Fee payment schedule:
Financial/Credits Royalty %
Commission project
Stage 1 payment
Stage 2 payment
Stage 3 payment
Stage 4 payment
Stage 5 payment
Stage 6 payment
Final Payment
Enhancement retainer
III Terms & Conditions
IV Disputes Forum
18 COSTS IN APPLICABLE CURRENCY
19 TERMS & CONDITIONS
20 SAME ONLINE INFORMATION AS REQUIRED LEGALLY
APPLICABLE LAW AND FORUM 21-22
21 WHICH APPLICABLE LAW OR FORUM
The applicable laws should be accessible electronically for the consumer.
This information can be linked direct into the electronic contract for a consumer
to review.
This process has to be more proactive that "Where a business specifies an applicable
law or forum for contracts".
There should be a link to the appropriate law or forum.
This may be set up by the business Association for all of its members.
There should also be a "Buyer beware" clause for the consumer if there is not a link
provided by the business.
22 AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS SPECIFY AUSTRALIAN LAW OR FORUM
The important issue is for the consumer to know the contacts in the case of a dispute.
Again this can be automatically linked into the business process for each industry group.
23 CONCLUSION OF CONTRACT
(a) These mechanism of the business cycle can be identified as follows:
Traditional Consumer Business cycle
Supplier Purchaser
A Marketing information ----------------------->
<---------------------- 1 Invite quote/Intention buy
B Quotation ----------------------->
<---------------------- 2 Order
C Notice of delivery terms ---------------------->
<---------------------- 3 Accept delivery terms
D Delivery Note ---------------------->
<--------------------- 4 Goods received note
E Invoice --------------------->
<--------------------- 5 Payment
Electronic Consumer Business Cycle
Supplier Purchaser
A Marketing information --------------------->
<--------------------- 1 Invitation quote
B Quotation --------------------->
<---------------------- 2 Order & Payment
C Notice of delivery terms --------------------->
<---------------------- 3 Accept delivery terms
D Delivery Note/Invoice --------------------->
<-------------------- 4 Goods received
(b) Not every transaction will follow the complete cycle but there will be components of
the cycle in each transaction with a number of interchanges depending on variations of terms
and delivery issues.
The difficulty for the consumer will be:
1 payment of the goods by credit card before receipt of the goods
2 faulty goods or not meeting specification
3 final price and actual delivery outside acceptable terms
There needs to be a process to protect the consumer.
(c) A possible process is that payments are held by a 3rd party until the consumer has
confirmed that the goods meet the specification and contractual terms. This 3rd party could
be the Association of which the business is a member or a designated Electronic Notary by
the consumer eg local neighbourhood watch committee. (The term/function Electronic
Notary as an independent 3rd party was proposed during the legal session at the Technical
Electronic Data Interchange Symposium (TEDIS) 1 week conference in Brussels June 1989).
(d) The use of electronic commerce will stimulate more sophisticated business processes
and no doubt its attendant computer fraud. Ideally there should be provision for possibly 3
Electronic Notaries for business transactions. - 1 registering the information process on
behalf of the seller, 1 registering information process on behalf of the buyer and 1
independent organisation.
(e) This may become the role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or a member service
function of Associations as they develop to become information repositories for their
members. It is envisaged that Industry Associations could provide a number of member
services including:
1 Electronic Notary
2 Automatic backup for SME member systems
3 Disaster recovery for SME members
4 Synchronisation and replication to ensure software up-to date
5 CBT & CBL accreditation programs
6 Industry E-commerce and E-mails standards and templates
7 Dispute Resolution services
(f) Non-repudiation of contract stages
An important aspect to consider for Business to Consumer and Business to Business e-
commerce is the problem of non-repudiation and authentication. There needs to be a
mechanism in place that can confirm including:
1 the time and date when an order was placed
2 the time and date when an invoice was issued
3 the time and date when payment was alleged to have been made
(g) Electronic Notary
The OIC proposes that there is a need for an independent 3rd party possibly called an
Electronic Notary to verify that electronic documents are:
1 sent
2 received
3 viewed
4 acted on
Different documents flows for different industries would have different timetables.
An example is in Judicial Administration
A Issue statement of claim or summons
B 14 days to file an appearance at the registry
C Another 14 days to file a defence
24 INTERNAL COMPLAINT HANDLING
This should include the e-mail address or Web form for internal complaint handling as
well as a telephone number and a fax number
25 COMPLAINT HANDLING PROCEDURES
Complains handling procedures could be set on a template basis to enable people with
complaints to simply complete a complaint form
26 COMPLAINT HANDLING STANDARD
This complaint Web form can be based on AS 4269
27 EXTERNAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The external dispute resolution should include a process and timescale. This process
should be clearly defined. An example is:
PROCESS DATE
A Notice of Dispute
B Internal Compliant History e-mails
C Next Date Review dispute within 28 days of dispute notice
D Notice additional material within a further 14 days of review e-ails
E Next date Dispute Hearing within a further 14 days of add material
F Dispute decision within 24 hrs