DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE FOR THE CARIBBEAN ON LEGAL ASPECTS OF E-COMMERCE

Transcription

1 DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE FOR THE CARIBBEAN ON LEGAL ASPECTS OF E-COMMERCE Organized by UNCTAD in cooperation with the SELA Permanent Secretariat and the ACS General Secretariat 23 March - 19 April 2015 I. BACKGROUND: The deployment and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially mobile telephony and cloud computing, is transforming the business environments of developing countries. ICTs offer new development opportunities and enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate more actively in international trade. To benefit from such opportunities, governments need to put in place legal regimes that address the issues raised by the electronic nature of these technologies. These regulatory environments should ensure trust in online transactions ease the conduct of domestic and international trade online and; offer legal protection for users and providers of e-commerce and e-government services. UNCTAD is mandated to help developing countries in the field of ICTs and, since 2000, has been the leading capacity-building provider within the United Nations system supporting the preparation of legal frameworks for e- commerce through the E-Commerce and Law Reform Programme and TrainForTrade Programme by supporting developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2007 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, UNCTAD has carried out joint capacity building activities in the field of ICTs with the support of Spain and Finland, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Some of these activities included on-line distance learning courses and regional training sessions (including cyberlegislation harmonization workshops) that benefited over 1200 lawmakers, government officials and practitioners involved in the business aspect of e-commerce from the public and private sectors. More over, UNCTAD has published two studies in the region: Study on Prospects for Harmonizing Cyber-legislation in Latin America Study on Prospects for Harmonizing Cyber-legislation in Central America and the Caribbean. The distance-learning course on legal aspects of e-commerce financed by SELA and ACS will be for the first time delivered in English to contribute to enhance the knowledge and the capacity of the English speaking population in the Caribbean involved in the e-commerce related field. 1

2 II. OVERALL OBJECTIVES: Enhance the capacities of lawmakers, government officials and other stakeholders in all aspects to be considered for the drafting of electronic commerce laws. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES After the course participants will be able: To explain a wide range of regulatory issues that concern e-commerce; To describe the new developments and scope of e-commerce issues in Latin America and the Caribbean region and; To exchange experiences and knowledge on harmonization aspects of e-commerce. III. PROGRAMME OUTLINE: Each module (between hours) includes interactive assessments and links to communication tools for online interaction. Every module will consist of PowerPoint presentations with video and links to the legal texts being discussed and will have a final test, which would consist of 5-7 questions. The 8 distance learning modules are: Regulating e-commerce The legal validity of electronic communications Consumer protection Protecting intellectual property assets Content regulation Taxing e-commerce Privacy online Securing e-commerce You will find more information on each module in Annex I: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR EACH MODULE The course will be conducted through TrainForTrade s distance training platform. In this platform participants will have access to manuals, to multimedia presentations, to module exams, opinion surveys and forums created for each module for discussions with the instructor and other participants. 2

3 IV. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: To be able to participate in the course participants need: A computer with headphones or loudspeakers, a browser (Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and Acrobat Reader. Internet access A valid address V. TARGET POPULATION: Policy makers (government officials) in charge of defining general policy guidelines and elaborating national legal frameworks for e-commerce Lawyers involved in electronic commerce issues Service providers offering on-line products and services VI. REGISTRATION: To register open the following link: select Legal Aspects of Ecommerce Caribbean, the access code is: unctad The registration form has to be completed, printed and signed by the supervisor or authorized person. The signed registration form has to be sent to Maria Luz Jaureguiberry maria.luz.jaureguiberry@unctad.org (deadline 1 March 2015). VII. DATES AND LANGUAGE: The distance-learning course will be delivered from 23 March to 19 April The working language will be English. 3

4 VIII. CONTACTS: For further information please contact: UNCTAD: SELA: Gonzalo Ayala Knowledge Management Officer Human Resources Development Section/ TrainForTrade Tel: Román Mayorga Director of Relations for Integration and Cooperation Tel: (58-212) Milagros Cruz Analyst of Relations Tel: (58-212) /11 José Gabriel Villegas Analyst of Relations Tel: (58-212) /11 AEC: Karima Baltimore Asesora de Comercio Areli Sanchez Asistente de Investigación 4

5 Annex I: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR EACH MODULE: Module 1: Regulating e-commerce Describe the key technological elements comprising electronic commerce systems Explain the different policy, law and regulatory aspects Describe the issues to be examined in the other modules in the course Module 2: The legal validity of electronic communications Examine the legal nature of communications Understand the process by which contracts are entered into using electronic commerce systems Be aware of how legal requirements of form may constitute obstacles to reliance on the use of electronic commerce systems Highlight different approaches to law reform designed to facilitate electronic commerce Explain the evidential problems of computer-derived evidence Module 3: Consumer protection Be able to briefly outline issues in consumer protection law and how they apply to e-commerce Identify e-commerce specific consumer protection concerns and describe how these have been addressed Be able to list the information requirements and describe the cancellation right State the reasons why enforcement of consumer legislation is a problem and identify some solutions Explain how self-regulation mechanisms can operate Identify different forms of consumer ADR Be able to define the term "spam", discuss the problems it causes and identify some technical and legal measures to prevent it Module 4: Protecting intellectual property assets Describe the different forms of intellectual property rights Be able to identify some of the specific areas of e-commerce that raise issues concerning such rights Understand the different issues of concern to rights-holders and users Recognise the impact of Internet technology on the protection of intellectual property rights Module 5: Content regulation Be able to explain problems of applying traditional legal concepts online Have an awareness of liability issues in relation to communication intermediaries Be able to explain how jurisdictional issues can be problematic Be able to explain the benefits and drawbacks of some of the alternative methods of internet content control Be able to analyse the need for, and scope of, content-related regulations in a national context 5

6 Module 6: Taxing e-commerce Be able to recognise the difference between residence and source based taxation Detail the problems which e-commerce poses to international tax rules Be able to identify the key elements the OECD and EC instruments on e-commerce and taxation Comment on the benefits and problems which may arise from the instruments Module 7: Privacy online Be able to identify different categories of personal data in a commercial transaction Identify different acts of data processing Explain each fair information processing principle Contrast different regulatory approaches to the protection of personal data Apply the fair information processing principles to a case study Module 8: Securing e-commerce Be able to understand the importance of information security to e-commerce Obtain basic knowledge of information security aspects Comprehend the essential law and policy aspects of information security Be aware of the need for international cooperation and practical measures towards information security 6