Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany

Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany Edited by Bettina Heiderhoff Bearbeitet von Ekkehard Becker-Eberhard, Bettina Heiderhoff, Anja Hennig, Monika Jagielska, Marek Swierczynski, Dariusz Szostek, Maciej Szpunar, Reinhard Welter, Grzegorz Zmij 1. Auflage 2005. Taschenbuch. XII, 117 S. Paperback ISBN 978 3 935808 85 9 Format (B x L): 14,1 x 22,4 cm Gewicht: 204 g Recht > Europarecht, Internationales Recht, Recht des Auslands > Rechtsvergleichung Zu Leseprobe schnell und portofrei erhältlich bei Die Online-Fachbuchhandlung beck-shop.de ist spezialisiert auf Fachbücher, insbesondere Recht, Steuern und Wirtschaft. Im Sortiment finden Sie alle Medien (Bücher, Zeitschriften, CDs, ebooks, etc.) aller Verlage. Ergänzt wird das Programm durch Services wie Neuerscheinungsdienst oder Zusammenstellungen von Büchern zu Sonderpreisen. Der Shop führt mehr als 8 Millionen Produkte.

Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany

Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany edited by Bettina Heiderhoff. Grzegorz Zmij Sellier. European Law Publishers

ISBN-10 3-935808-85-2 ISBN-13 978-3-935808-85-9 Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar. 2005 by Sellier. European Law Publishers GmbH, München. Dieses Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gestaltung: Sandra Sellier, München. Herstellung: Karina Hack, München. Druck und Bindung: AZ Druck und Datentechnik GmbH, Kempten. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem, alterungsbeständigem Papier. Printed in Germany.

Authors Prof Dr Ekkehard Becker-Eberhard, director of the Institute for Solicitors Law at the University of Leipzig, chair for private law and private procedural law Privatdozentin Dr Bettina Heiderhoff, lecturer (wissenschaftliche Oberassistentin) at the University of Leipzig Anja Hennig, LLM (Nottingham), research assistant (wissenschaftliche Assistentin) at the University of Leipzig Dr Monika Jagielska, lecturer in the Department of Private and Private International Law at the Law Faculty, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. Marek Świerczyński, PhD student at the University of Silesia, Katowice legal assistant in Traple, Konarski, Podrecki Law Office in Krakow. Dr Dariusz Szostek, lecturer at Śląska Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania, associated with the Chair of the Civil and Private International Law at the University of Silesia, Katowice, and the Institute of Intellectual Property at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow. Dr Maciej Szpunar, LLM (Bruges), lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Silesia, Katowice, advocate. Prof Dr Reinhard Welter, co-director of the Institute for German and International Law of Banking and Capital Markets at the University of Leipzig, chair for private law, German and international business law Dr Grzegorz Żmij, LLM (Trier), lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Silesia, Katowice, legal adviser

Foreword Foreword The number of contracts concluded via the internet has increased enormously over recent years. Entire branches of business, such as home banking, have been transferred to the internet. There have also been numerous attempts to promote the use of electronic money that, should it become generally accepted, could serve as the internet s own currency. Internet business raises some new legal problems and frequently requires adjustment of established legal thinking. Hacking, phishing and other fraudulent behaviour, which are often hard to prove, are damaging to security and may severely impair private trade as well as online-banking services. At the same time, the internet has made cross-border trade much easier. The potential for the European Internal Market was recognised early by the European legislator and has been supported by harmonising and simplifying the law. The country of origin principle of the E-Commerce Directive is of outstanding impact for cross border business. The relatively new Directive on Distance Selling of Financial services also greatly affects E-Commerce. It is noticeable that many contractual parties, especially consumers, are often oblivious to the fact that in buying on the internet they are actually concluding a cross-border contract. Since Poland has become a member of the EU, Polish-German trade will continue to expand, and this will require a corresponding increase in dialogue amongst the lawyers and legal scientists of these neighbouring countries. In this publication, the language problem has been addressed by choosing English as a language understood on both sides. In the actual conference, however, German, English and simultaneous interpretation were used to good effect. We would like to use this foreword to acknowledge the people who helped us with the conference proceedings. So, many thanks to our main sponsors, the Förderverein der Juristenfakultät, the Fundacja Wydziału Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach FACULTAS IURIDICA, the Stadtsparkasse Leipzig, the Stadtwerke Leipzig, the Polish Ministry of Science and Information Society Technologies, the law firm of Stapper&Korn, and to the many others who supported us.

VIII Foreword Our gratitude also goes to Ella Palac and Adam Wasiołka who contributed to the translations of the texts. Finally there is Benjamin Ganly, our English editor, who spent hours and hours turning the text into flawless English without destroying the personal style of the individual authors. Leipzig/Katowice August 2005 Bettina Heiderhoff and Grzegorz Żmij

Table of Contents Authors Foreword V VII The Conclusion of a Contract via the Internet in the Polish Law Dariusz Szostek, Marek Świerczyński I. The Sources of Polish Law 3 II. Electronic Declaration of Intention 7 III. The Electronic Offer 10 IV. The Information Duties of the Entrepreneur 19 V. The Conclusion of the Contract by Means of Electronic Standard Terms and Conditions 23 VI. Electronic Form 27 Conclusion of Contract at Online-Auctions Ekkehard Becker-Eberhard I. Introduction 31 II. Peculiarities of the German Law of Contract 32 III. Conclusion of Contract at the Internet Auction 33 IV. Right to Withdraw 40 Consumer Protection in E-Commerce Monika Jagielska I. Introduction 42 II. Methods of Regulation 43 III. Subject of the Bill 44 IV. Definition of Consumer 45 V. Distance Selling 45 VI. Distance Financial Services 48 VII. Unfair Contract Terms 48 VIII. Choice of Law Problems 50 IX. Summary 51

X Table of Contents Information Duties of Directive 2002/65/EC Concerning the Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services Anja Hennig A. Introduction 54 B. Information Duties in the Directive on Distance Marketing of Financial Services 54 I. Structure of the Information Duties 55 II. Time of Information 56 III. Requirements Regarding the Method of Information 57 IV. Content of the Information, Article 3 (1) (1)-(4) DMD 59 V. Particularities of Voice Telephony Communication, Article 3 (3) DMD 63 VI. Legal Sanctions of an Infringement of Information Duties 64 VII. Information Duties for Financial Services from Other Directives 65 Online-Banking in Germany Reinhard Welter I. General Framework of Online-Banking 69 II. The Regulatory Framework of Online-Banking 73 III. Liability in Case of Malfunction of the Online-System 76 IV. Recent Manipulation Problems 77 Electronic Money in Poland Grzegorz Żmij I. Introduction 86 II. The Concept of Electronic Money 89 III. Contracts for Electronic Money Instruments 91 IV. Summary 95 Problems of Evidence in Online Contracts Bettina Heiderhoff I. Introduction 97 II. General Rules of Burden of Proof 97 III. Range of Issues in Online Contract 98 IV. Qualified Identity Theft Cases 102 V. Result 108

Table of Contents XI The Country of Origin Principle in the E-Commerce Directive Maciej Szpunar I. Evolution of the Country of Origin Principle in Community Law 110 II. Article 3 of the E-Commerce Directive 113