[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4801-4803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2198]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Office of the General Counsel; Laws or Regulations Posing 
Barriers to Electronic Commerce

AGENCY:  Department of Commerce.

ACTION:  Notice: Request for public comment on laws or regulations 
posing barriers to electronic commerce.

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SUMMARY:  The Department of Commerce, on behalf of the Subgroup on 
Legal Barriers to Electronic Commerce (``Legal Barriers Subgroup'') of 
the U.S. Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce, requests 
public comments and suggestions concerning policies, laws or 
regulations that need to be adapted in order to eliminate barriers to 
and promote electronic commerce, electronic services, and electronic 
transactions.

DATES:  Comments are requested by March 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES:  Comments may be submitted via the Web at http://www.ecommerce.gov/ebarriers/respond. Alternatively, electronic 
submissions may be sent as documents attached to E-mail messages 
addressed to [email protected]. Submissions made as E-mail 
attachments or submitted on floppy disks should be in WordPerfect, 
Microsoft Word or ASCII format. Diskettes should be labeled with the 
name of the party and the name and version of the word processing 
program used to create the document. Paper submissions may be mailed to 
the Subgroup on Legal Barriers to Electronic Commerce, U.S. Department 
of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 2815, 
Washington D.C. 20230. If possible, paper submissions should include 
floppy disks in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word or ASCII format. Except for 
floppy disks with paper submissions, duplicate copies should not be 
submitted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Kenneth Clark, phone: 202-482-3843; 
E-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 29, 1999, President Clinton issued a Presidential 
Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Branch Departments and Agencies 
entitled ``Facilitating the Growth of Electronic Commerce.'' The 
President noted that the rapid growth of the Internet and its 
increasing use throughout the world for electronic commerce holds great 
promise for American consumers and for the Nation. Consumers will have 
significantly greater choice and convenience and will benefit from 
enhanced competition for their business. To realize this promise, the 
President said, it is essential that government facilitate ``not only 
retail activity, which has increased substantially, but also the 
movement to the online environment of other categories of 
transactions.''
    The President noted that laws and regulations developed before the 
advent of electronic commerce may significantly impede consumers and 
businesses in conducting various kinds of transactions electronically. 
These impediments can involve requirements that particular types of 
transactions be conducted on paper or in person, or that records be 
maintained or provided in written form. They may also include 
regulatory, statutory or licensing requirements, or technical standards 
and other policies, that hinder electronic commerce or otherwise 
require business or transactions to be conducted in a way that 
discriminates against the online environment.
    Such requirements and policies must therefore be reviewed and, 
where appropriate, adapted to the new electronic environment. But the 
President noted that in making these adaptations, it is essential to 
ensure that electronic commerce is as safe for consumers as traditional 
forms of commerce.
    To implement these objectives, the President mandated that the 
United States Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce: (1) 
Identify laws and regulations that impose barriers to the growth of 
electronic commerce, and (2) recommend how these laws and regulations 
should be revised to facilitate the development of electronic commerce, 
while ensuring that protection of the public interest (including 
consumer protection) is equivalent to that provided with respect to 
offline commerce. The President mandated that the Commerce Department 
lead a subgroup to implement this work, and the Subgroup on Legal 
Barriers to Electronic Commerce has been formed to carry out those 
responsibilities.
    The President directed the Subgroup to invite the public to 
participate in this effort by identifying laws or regulations that may 
obstruct, hinder or discriminate against electronic commerce, including 
those that should be modified on a priority basis. The Subgroup was 
also charged with inviting public comment on how such laws and 
regulations could be adapted to the electronic environment while 
ensuring that public interest protections will be equivalent to those 
now provided in offline commerce. This Notice and Request for Comment 
implements those directives.

Scope of This Request

Areas of Focus for the Working Group

Electronic Transactions
    These include business-to-business and consumer-to-business 
transfer of information, money, or other resources. (Note that 
transactions between government agencies and the public are excluded 
from this review because they are being addressed as to federal 
agencies pursuant to the Government Paperwork Elimination Act.)
Merchandise Sales
    The Legal Barriers Subgroup is interested in all types of policy, 
legal and regulatory impediments to electronic commerce and invites 
comment on any that may be identified. Conducting business in the sale 
of goods on the Internet may involve a wide range of issues besides the 
actual transaction, from incorporation and notice requirements to 
warranty or liability policies. Respondents are invited to comment on 
such issues and to identify policies, laws or regulations that may 
impede the offering of goods for sale electronically. Comments are also 
requested concerning how such barriers could be removed while ensuring 
that equivalent consumer protections to those guaranteed in traditional 
commerce will apply to the sale of goods online.
Offering Services
    Comment is also invited concerning the provision of professional or 
other services by electronic means. Such services differ from industry 
to industry, but may be dependent on certain statutory or regulatory 
frameworks. Respondents are invited to comment on whether these 
frameworks discriminate against the provision of services by electronic 
means or make electronic provision of services more difficult. 
Respondents are also invited to discuss how best to adapt these 
frameworks appropriately to the online environment.
Multiple Party Regulation
    The Committee is especially interested in comments on regulations 
governing the relationship or exchange of information between different 
categories of private parties (e.g., between banks and students or 
insurance companies and doctors). Respondents are invited to comment on 
regulatory provisions that address communication between parties, 
whether these provisions impede

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electronic commerce due to requirements for written documentation or 
other actions that create a disincentive to electronic information 
transfer, and how such impediments could be removed while still 
protecting the public interest.
Independent Agencies Included Within the Scope of the Inquiry
    This request invites comments concerning laws or regulations 
administered by any federal agency, as the President's Memorandum 
invites participation in the Working Group by independent agencies 
concerned with its work. Any comments concerning laws or regulations 
administered by independent agencies will be forwarded to those 
agencies for their consideration.
Areas of Law and Regulation Excluded
    This request for comment focuses on domestic laws or regulations 
that may adversely affect electronic commerce (although the potential 
effects of such laws or regulations on cross-border commerce are 
relevant to this inquiry and may be included in any response). However, 
the Legal Barriers Subgroup will refrain from reviewing laws and 
regulations in areas where comprehensive activities are already 
underway to remove regulatory or legal barriers to electronic commerce. 
Areas excluded from this inquiry include the following:
    (1) Treaties, international laws, conventions or agreements, or the 
laws of countries other than the United States.
    (2) Tax laws or regulations.
    (3) The following consumer protection regulations, which are 
subject to current rulemaking proceedings of the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve: Regulation B, relating to the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act; Regulation E, relating to the Electronic Fund Transfer 
Act; Regulation M, relating to the Consumer Leasing Act; Regulation Z, 
relating to the Truth in Lending Act; and Regulation DD, relating to 
the Truth in Savings Act.
    (4) Issues being addressed pursuant to the Government Paperwork 
Elimination Act, which mandates steps to be taken by the Federal 
Government to remove barriers to electronic communications with and 
within the Federal government.

    Note concerning State or local laws and regulations: Barriers to 
electronic commerce may arise simply from a lack of uniformity in 
policies, laws, standards or codes among different jurisdictions. 
Although we do not request comments about individual state or local 
laws or regulations, respondents may wish to identify general areas 
in which barriers to electronic commerce result from State or local 
policies, laws, or practices; or from differing State and federal 
policies, laws, licensing requirements, standards or other 
practices. Respondents also may wish to comment on whether increased 
coordination is needed between the Federal and State governments to 
avoid unnecessary impediments to electronic commerce.

Basic Questions for Public Comment

    Comments on any issue within the scope of this inquiry are welcome. 
However, responses to the following specific questions would be most 
helpful to the Working Group.
    1. Does any federal agency-administered law or regulation impose an 
impediment to the conduct by electronic means of commercial 
transactions between you or your firm, company or organization and any 
other non-government party or parties? (Be as specific as possible in 
citing or otherwise identifying the law or regulation.)
    2. If so:
    (a) What is the degree of the impediment? (For example, does it 
completely bar the transaction from occurring electronically, or does 
it make the transaction more difficult, expensive, or time-consuming 
without barring it altogether?)
    (b) What is the nature of the impediment? (For example, is it a 
recordkeeping requirement, a ``written notice'' requirement, or some 
other type of requirement?)
    (c) Can you provide information as to the costs that are associated 
with or result from the legal or regulatory impediment?
    (d) What do you understand to be the reason for imposing the 
requirement that causes the impediment?
    (e) Can you suggest alternative ways, other than through the 
requirement that causes the impediment, by which the agency could 
achieve the goal of the requirement? (Most helpful would be examples 
that work in other contexts.)
    (f) Can you suggest ways in which the requirement can be modified 
to remove or reduce the impediment while continuing to provide consumer 
protections for electronic transactions that are equivalent to those 
that exist for offline transactions.

Additional Issues or Questions for Public Comment

    3. Do federal laws or regulations in any particular field or area 
generally impose significant impediments to the conduct of commercial 
transactions by electronic means? If so, please indicate how they 
result in such impediments and provide any suggestions you may have to 
remove or reduce the impediments, while achieving the purposes of the 
laws or regulations and maintaining equivalent consumer protections.
    4. Are there particular federal laws or regulations that should be 
modified on a priority basis because they currently inhibit electronic 
commerce that is otherwise ready to take place? In responding to this 
and other questions, you are urged to take into account cross-border 
transactions that are now likely to occur electronically.
    5. Are there federal laws or regulations that should be clarified 
to facilitate electronic commerce by preserving important public 
interests in the area of online commerce such as consumer protection, 
civil rights or law enforcement?
    6. Are there federal laws or regulations that constitute 
disproportionate or particular barriers to electronic commerce for 
small businesses? If so, are there changes or solutions you can suggest 
that would enable small businesses to engage more easily in electronic 
commerce?
    7. To the extent that the adaption of laws or regulations to the 
electronic environment requires electronic notices or disclosures, can 
you offer specific suggestions as to formatting or other requirements 
for such notices or disclosures to ensure that they are conspicuous and 
will be received and understood?
    8. From the standpoint of consumers, are there federal laws or 
regulations that have already been adapted to the electronic 
environment in a manner that has resulted in a lessening of consumer 
protections--including protections against fraud, or against over-
reaching by unscrupulous or exploitative entities? If so, what is the 
degree of the harm involved, or the amount of cost imposed?
    9. Are there federal laws or regulations that have already been 
adapted to the electronic environment in a manner that has resulted in 
a lessening of other public-interest protections, such as those 
involving health, safety or the environment?
    10. Have you encountered areas in which barriers to electronic 
commerce result from: (a) Particular subject areas or types of State 
laws; (b) a lack of uniformity, or conflicts, among State laws; or (c) 
differing or conflicting State and federal laws?
    11. Have you encountered impediments to electronic commerce that 
stem from licensing requirements, technical standards, codes, or other 
policies? If yes, what are they and how could they be removed?

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    12. Have you encountered impediments to electronic commerce that 
stem from a lack of uniformity in such requirements, standards, codes, 
or other policies among State or local governments or between them and 
the Federal Government?

Specificity of Responses and Comments

    Comments and responses to the questions posed in this notice will 
be most helpful if they are specific in (1) identifying federal laws or 
regulations imposing impediments to electronic commerce, and (2) 
estimating costs associated with these impediments through reduced 
sales or business efficiency. The Working Group would appreciate 
receiving suggestions for modifying the law, regulation or policy to 
reduce or remove the impediments, or alternative ways (other than 
through the provision at issue) by which the agency could achieve the 
goal of the provision while maintaining consumer and public protections 
equivalent to those provided for transactions taking place by non-
electronic means. Questions 1 and 2, above, provide an example of the 
degree of detail in responses that would be most helpful.

Publication

    Comments will be published online at http://www.ecommerce.gov/
ebarriers/review. Respondents should not submit materials that they do 
not desire to be made public.

    Authority: Presidential Memorandum, ``Facilitating the Growth of 
Electronic Commerce,'' dated November 29, 1999.

    Dated: January 27, 2000.
Andrew J. Pincus,
General Counsel, Department of Commerce.
[FR Doc. 00-2198 Filed 1-31-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-BW-U