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                Date: 1998-10-15
                 
                 
                EU-Entwurf zum E-Kommerz
                
                 
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      Irgendwie sind die teuflisch guten Reporter/innen von Reuters  
an einen EU-Entwurf ("a copy of which was obtained by  
Reuters") zum E-Kommerz gekommen. Der Entwurf scheint  
davon auszugehen, dass jeweils der niedrigste Standard an  
Konsumentenschutz gelten habe. 
 
postscrypt: Am Runden Tisch der Grosskopferten, wo das  
EU-Papier diskutiert ward, ist neben Bertelsmann &  
Micro/ehschonwissen auch Reouters Group gesessen. 
 
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By Suzanne Perry 
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) 
... 
The European Union's executive arm has begun debating a  
draft text covering issues such as advertising, electronic  
contracts, liability for illegal content and professional  
standards. It is expected to issue a formal proposal in several  
weeks. 
 
The draft, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, sets out  
the basic principle that a company offering electronic  
services -- such as publications, home shopping, legal advice  
or video games -- should be subject to rules of the country  
where it is established. 
 
Except in unusual circumstances -- for example, a threat to  
children or public safety -- an EU country could not block a  
service that had been authorized in one of its 14 EU partners. 
 
That "country of origin" principle is music to the ears of  
companies engaged heavily in electronic commerce, who fear  
any hint of a regime that would force them to comply with a  
patchwork of different national laws. 
 
The International Communications Round Table, which  
groups more than 25 publishing, computer and  
communications companies including Bertelsmann AG,  
Microsoft Europe and Reuters Group Plc , has already  
issued a resolution on the text that warns the EU to avoid the  
alternative "country of reception" approach. 
 
It said that would particularly hurt smaller companies, which  
"are the least able to afford the many management and legal  
costs involved in complying with regulatory regimes in all of  
the countries in which they conduct business." 
 
However, it will face opposition from the European consumers  
group BEUC as the legislation goes through EU ministers  
and the European Parliament. 
 
BEUC argues that electronic buyers should be able to rely on  
national consumer protection laws. "(The country of origin  
approach) is too unilateral and doesn't take into account the  
interests of consumers," BEUC legal adviser Ursula Pachl  
said. 
.... 
 
 
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edited by  
published on: 1998-10-15 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
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