Das Internet im Fokus des transnationalen Wirtschaftsrechts: Normative Ordnungsstrukturen für den E-Commerce

The ever-increasing importance of the Internet as a major forum for commercial transactions gave rise to an intensive debate on the need for and suitable structural design of a normative framework governing business-related activities in Cyberspace. As of today a broad consensus has emerged that the initial exclusive reliance on netiquettes does in long-term perspective not appear to be an adequate steering approach. Rather, creating a suitable steering structure for the Internet requires a governance mix comprising of governmental regulations and self-regulatory mechanisms. Thereby, already the inherently transboundary dimension of most commercial transactions on the Internet – commonly referred to as E-Commerce – indicates that the overwhelming majority of the legal issues arising from these activities can effectively only be addressed by taking recourse to international cooperation. Against this background, the contribution is aimed at illustrating and analyzing the normative framework of what most accurately – taking recourse to conceptual ideas developed by Philip C. Jessup – can be qualified as transnational economic law governing E-Commerce, comprising of complex interconnections between hard and soft steering mechanisms developed and shaped by a variety of governmental, intermediate and non-governmental actors. Following an overview of the international organizations and other steering subjects being of relevance in this field such as the OECD, WIPO and the International Chamber of Commerce, the analysis focuses on the treatment of this issue within the WTO legal order. In this connection, attention is drawn not only to the legal aspects directly connected with E-commerce itself like for example the occasionally challenging task of classifying these activities as goods or services, the customs duty moratorium and the importance of GATS and TRIPS for commercial transactions on the Internet. Rather, the contribution also covers the normative framework of the WTO law applicable to the infrastructural bases of e-commerce such as the Information Technology Agreement and the WTO regime for telecommunications services, as well as the discussions on the development implications of E-Commerce. The final part is devoted to the increasingly important role played by the ever-growing number of regional economic integration agreements in also providing for a normative ordering structure for business-related activities on the Internet. The contribution concludes with an outlook on the regulatory challenges provided by E-Commerce for the various actors concerned in the domestic, European as well as international realm and thus at all three decisive steering levels.