Draft E-commerce Bill is published

Proposed new legislation will make it an offence to fraudulently use electronic signatures, punishable by imprisonment and, or a fine of up to £80,000. It also provides that electronic signatures, documents, and contracts be afforded the same legal status as their paper-based counterparts.

The new draft E-Commerce Bill published yesterday for public scrutiny, and following a consultation process with the private sector, is expected to be passed into law by Christmas.

The broad based, 38-page Bill is one of the first of its kind in Europe, and has been drawn up in anticipation of the EU's Electronic Signatures Directive scheduled for publication next year.

A spokesman at the Department of Public Enterprise told The Irish Times: "By laying the groundwork early we expect it will allow Ireland a competitive advantage as it takes charge of its own e-commerce future."

While the EU Directive is focused solely on the use of electronic signatures, the E-Commerce Bill has cast its net a little wider in an effort to put a simple legal mechanism in place which will accommodate future technological advances.

The Bill also proposes new regulations governing the registration of Internet domain names in the Republic. Until now this process has been privately operated by the .ie Domain Registry (IEDR) in UCD. However the Department of Public Enterprise has expressed concern at the openness of the IEDR's mechanisms, and the validity of having just one registry in Ireland.

"We sense the rules might be clearer. At the moment they seem to have a lot of discretionary powers. Maybe there's a case for opening it up to competition, and at least establishing an appeals mechanism. The Department is hoping to draw a debate on this," the spokesman said.

The Irish draft E-Commerce Bill comes two weeks after the publication of the British E-Commerce Bill. The Department of Public Enterprise says it worked independently of Britain in drafting its legislation, and it has taken a lighter regulatory approach with a view to encouraging self-regulation within the industry.

Under the proposed legislation, electronic signatures, writings and contracts can be used for exactly the same purposes as paper-based versions. These provisions will only apply under company law, and the legislation will not apply to wills, property deals, trusts or affidavits. However provision has been made within the Bill to extend the legislation to family and land law.

The Republic has called at EU level for a simple legislative approach, and it advocates an encryption policy where no single technology is allowed dominate the digital signature area.

The likely result of this will be the emergence of new businesses offering certification services to authenticate and validate electronic signatures. The Bill has made provisions for these Certification Service Providers and proposes the establishment of a voluntary accreditation scheme which will be administered by the National Accreditation Board.

Its function will be to oversee - on a voluntary basis - the activities of Certification Service Providers. This will include ensuring that all electronic certificates issued meet the requirements of the EU Electronic Signatures directive. However the Bill makes the case for a system of self-regulation among Certification Service Providers through an industry code of practice. If this is found to be inadequate, national legislation to regulate such a service could be put forward.

"The certification service market is too new here, and we don't want to restrict it. We want to let it develop and then take a look in a few years." the spokesman said.

The E-Commerce Bill is available on a dedicated website (www.ecommercegov.ie) which features a discussion forum for online feedback, and hard copies can be obtained on request from the Department of Public Enterprise (6041608). The consultative process will run until October, when a new draft of the Bill will be submitted to the Oireachtas.