The effects of electronic commerce technologies on business contracting behaviors

Contract law provides a framework within which relationships can be established and administrated for the mutual benefit of the parties ; electronic commerce (e-commerce) provides tools for reducing the costs of establishing and administering these relationships. When traditional contract law doctrines are applied to electronic commerce, however, the result may be uncertainty, the costs of which may offset any efficiency gains from technological innovation. In order to prevent the application of traditionnal contract law doctrine from impeding the use of new technologies, some changes may be needed. Precisely what changes are needed is not always clear, however, so the reform of contract law to accommodate technological innovation has been the subject of some controversy in recent decades. This chapter considers some major challenges to contract doctrine created by the use of e-commerce and the range of regulatory responses that different national and regional authorities have adopted, and assesses the practical impact they have had on technological innovation in the governance of markets.