Back in 1996, when I first started to teach a Law School undergraduate course on e-commerce law, books on the subject were, to say the least, thin on the ground. Today, there is a plethora of books on e-commerce law, and the major difficulty facing the would-be reader now is ascertaining which are likely to be most appropriate to their needs. The two publications reviewed here would appear to sit very much at opposite ends of the market both in terms of coverage and cost, but each is likely to find a ready audience.

Susan Singleton is a prolific author with more than 20 legal books to her name and extensive practical experience in the fields of commercial, Internet, intellectual property and competition law. Her book eCommerce: A Practical Guide to the Law is a revised edition of a book first published in 2001, and covers the law as it stood at 1 April 2002. Given that the author herself notes in her preface to this revised edition that “the speed with which new laws on ecommerce are produced by EU and UK Governments has not lessened”, a further revision, or new edition, must surely be in the offing. As I have noted in a previous review of an e-commerce text in this journal (review of Simpson Grierson’s x-tech group A Guide to E-Commerce Law in New Zealand [2003] LMCLQ 398–401), given the nature of the topic under discussion, it might have been useful for the author and her publishers to have considered whether some form of web updating service for the text might be feasible. Such updating services are becoming more common, and it would be a valuable addition to the text if, between editions, readers could be provided with the facility to check for new developments relevant to the text’s content.

In terms of its coverage and analysis the text, to borrow from the famous UK TV advertisement for Ronseal varnish, does exactly what it says on the cover, by providing a basic summary of the essential legal issues pertaining to e-commerce. There are five chapters covering: the use of e-mail and the Internet in the context of employment; intellectual property issues; jurisdiction and advertising on the web; contracting on the Internet; and likely problem areas, including issues such as insurance, security, contract negotiations, alternative dispute resolution and attending court. There are also four appendices, which cover: a sample computer use policy; email and Internet use policies; Internet terms and conditions; and an example of a contract with sub-contractor or designer. There is little of the in-depth analysis of the legal topics that one would expect to find in a more academically oriented text, and a heavy emphasis upon check lists and practical advice aimed at helping the reader identify, and avoid, the main legal pitfalls that await the uninitiated entering the on-line business environment.

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