Online contracts are those documents that are shown to the consumer before they can participate in something that has risk potential. These documents state the purpose of the website or service, which the consumer will be facing. These agreements are usually signed online by a check box that indicates 'I agree' to the terms and conditions of the site. There are a number of places where these contracts are placed, before you can make an account, and most importantly before you can purchase online. The article here describes some of the issues in relation to online contracts in e-commerce.
There are many issues that are present in today's contracting terms. These issues will however, differ from place to place and is much dependant on the law that is present in those cities, countries or states.
According to the law a contract comes into being when a legal agreement has been accepted. All websites in the e-commerce category are built to offer something to the consumer. These contracts can be only made after a check has been made if the item of interest is in stock and the payment mechanism is working. Keeping this structure is very important so that the risk of mistakes is reduced. Mistakes are generally made when orders are automatically accepted when the details of the credit card have been filed in.
Contracts of any kind fall into two basic categories. One contract is for services and the other one belongs to licenses. The problem with contracts these days is that they are not well written. If this happens then there is no doubt for law suits and the common phenomena of misunderstandings.
Some of the problems that can occur in contract issues are the following:
Failure to provide for who owns the copyright in the product or service.
Failure to enumerate the warranty.
Testing procedures, and/or service standards.
Delivery delays.
A major issue in contract is the contract for licenses. The existing issue to license contracts is the fact of accepting the terms and conditions after the use of the software. This contract is normally associated with software vendors who require the users to adhere to certain rules. There is no contract or agreement that is signed before the software can be installed. In other words you would have to install the software first and then read the rules. This is more like saying you eat the cake first and we tell you the terms and conditions afterwards.
