[Random-bits] The Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection Group

[James Love]

This is an important group, and look at the statement regarding
jurisdiction.  Jamie

http://www.ecommercegroup.org/

This is the URL for the "Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection
Group."  The membership includes:

AOL
AT&T
Dell
IBM
Microsoft
NSI
Time Warner
Visa

The group's statement on jurisdiction is found here:

http://www.ecommercegroup.org/statement.htm

	"The application of traditional concepts of jurisdiction with respect
to consumer protection law presents significant challenges to consumers,
merchants, and governments alike. These challenges stem from the fact
that merchants and consumers now do business on a global basis.
Countries throughout the world have in place numerous different regimes
intended to protect their citizens. It is impossible for the businesses,
particularly small businesses, that are flocking to the Internet to
comply simultaneously with inconsistent local consumer protection laws
in the multiple jurisdictions where their customers may be located. At
the same time, consumers will remain unnecessarily uncomfortable with
shopping online if they do not know where the merchant they are dealing
with is located and cannot be sure whether there is some reasonable
prospect of obtaining relief if something should go wrong.

   [snip]

	"With respect to consumer protection for transactions, the group
believes that at some point a framework will exist whereby local
jurisdictions will be able to defer in the application of their laws to
a new framework that provides both effective protections for consumers
as well as legal certainty and simplification for merchants. After
extensive consultation with businesses, governments, lawyers, consumers,
and others, it is apparent to the Group that for such deference to be
adopted, there needs to be significant operational experience to clearly
demonstrate that a deference framework is best suited for dealing with
transactional disputes in the online age.
	
	"It is for this reason that the E-Commerce Group has chosen to release
these Guidelines at this time and encourage the development of
alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.


    [snip]


These recommendations were presented to the FTC by NSI's Roger Cochetti
and attorney Ron Plesser.  

http://www.ecommercegroup.org/testimony.htm

Roger Cochetti, formerly with IBM, Comsat and the Department of State,
is one of the architechs of ICANN, and "serves on committees or boards
of a variety of Internet-related organizations, including the Internet
Law & Policy Forum; R-SAC; the Internet Alliance; the Information
Technology Association; the Online Privacy Alliance; the Coalition of
Service Industries; the U.S. Internet Council; TRUSTe; the Internet
State Coalition; the Internet Education Foundation (which sponsors
programs of the Congressional Internet Caucus); and he has served as a
consultant on Internet matters to the United Nations World Intellectual
Property Organization."

In his Testimony to the FTC on Alternative Dispute Mechanisms, Ron
Plesser describes himself as an "Expert advisor to the US delegation in
Ottawa on the Draft Hague Convention on Jurisdiction."  He also points
out that he has had "the honor of accompanying Commissioner Thompson and
several Commission staff and staff of the Department of Commerce on the
United States delegation to the OECD addressing issues of consumer
protection in the global electronic marketplace."  Ron Plesser
represents a plethora of ecommerce interests, including the Direct
Marketing Assocation and many other groups with interests in privacy and
consumer protection legislation.  




James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
v. 1.202.387.8030, fax 1.202.234.5176
love@cptech.org, http://www.cptech.org