[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[November 29, 1999]
[Pages 2155-2156]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2155]]


Memorandum on Facilitating the Growth of Electronic Commerce
November 29, 1999

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Facilitating the Growth of Electronic Commerce

    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 businesses.
    It is essential for consumers and the health of the economy that 
government facilitate not only retail activity, which has increased 
substantially, but also the movement to the online environment of other 
categories of transactions. We must update laws and regulations 
developed before the advent of the Internet that may have the unintended 
effect of impeding business-to-business and business-to-consumer online 
transactions. Impediments may include regulatory or licensing 
requirements and technical standards and other policies that may hinder 
electronic commerce in particular goods or services. While some of these 
legal restrictions are the subject of pending legislation, other 
potential barriers are outside the scope of those legislative proposals.
    Under the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, Federal agencies are 
addressing issues regarding electronic transactions within the Federal 
Government and between the Federal Government and other parties. We 
should provide for similar consideration of laws and regulations 
governing electronic commerce in the private sectors.
    In adapting laws and regulations to the electronic environment, it 
is critical that consumers and the public at large be assured of a level 
of protection in electronic commerce equivalent to that which they now 
enjoy in more traditional forms of commerce. Any disparity in protection 
may undermine consumer confidence in electronic commerce and impede the 
growth of this important new trade medium. At the same time, we must 
recognize that different media may require different approaches and that 
public interest protections designed for the physical world may not fit 
in the electronic commerce arena. We should attempt to develop an 
equivalent level of protection, recognizing that different means may be 
necessary to accomplish that goal.
    The United States Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce 
(the Working Group) shall establish a subgroup, led by the Department of 
Commerce, to: (1) identify Federal, State, and local 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. This 
subgroup shall carry out the responsibilities identified below on behalf 
of the Working Group, with the exception of reporting to the President.
    Within 60 days of the date of this memorandum, the Working Group 
shall invite the public to identify laws or regulations that may 
obstruct or hinder electronic commerce, including those laws and 
regulations that should be modified on a priority basis because they are 
currently inhibiting electronic commerce that is otherwise ready to take 
place. The Working Group also shall invite the public to recommend how 
governments should adapt public interest regulations to the electronic 
environment. These recommendations should discuss ways to ensure that 
public interest protections for online transactions will be equivalent 
to that now provided for offline transactions; maintain technology 
neutrality; minimize legal and regulatory barriers to electronic 
commerce; and take into account cross-border transactions that are now 
likely to occur electronically.
    The Working Group shall request each Federal agency, including 
independent regulatory agencies, to identify any provision of law 
administered by such agency, or any regulation issued by such agency, 
that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise impede 
the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, and to recommend 
how such laws or regulations may be revised to allow electronic commerce 
to proceed while maintaining protection of the public interest.

[[Page 2156]]

    The Working Group shall invite representatives of State and local 
governments to identify laws and regulations at the State and local 
level that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise 
to the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, to discuss how 
State and local governments are revising such laws or regulations to 
facilitate electronic commerce while protecting the public interest, and 
to discuss the potential for consistent approaches to these issues.
    The Working Group shall report to the President in a timely manner 
identifying:
       (1)  laws and regulations that impose barriers to electronic 
            commerce or that need to be amended to facilitate electronic 
            commerce, and
       (2)  recommended steps for addressing the barriers that will 
            facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and will ensure 
            continued protection for consumers and the public at large.

                                                      William J. Clinton