Chapter 2

Implementing an Environmental
Management System
eCommerce in the Philippines
• The Electronic Commerce Act or Republic Act No.
8792
• Signed into law on June 12, 2000
• Based on the Senate Bill No. 1902 & House Bill
No. 9971, both of which were patterned after
the United Nations Commission on International
Trade Law (UNICITRAL) Model Law on Electronic
Commerce
Salient features of the ECA
• the Act defines important terms such as
computer, electronic data message, electronic
signature, and electronic document.
• it gives legal recognition to electronic data
messages, signatures, and documents; and in so
doing, it puts electronic data messages and
digital signatures on the same legal status as
paper-based documents and manually executed
signatures.
Salient features of the ECA
• it lays down the State policy to promote the
universal use of electronic transactions in the
government and by the general public.
• it allows the use of such electronic writings
and signatures in both commercial and non-
commercial transactions, thereby giving legal
effect and validity to these electronic
transactions.
Salient features of the ECA
• it sets forth the responsibility and liability
of service providers.
• the Department of Trade and Industry is made
the lead agency which is given the authority to
direct and supervise the promotion and
development of electronic commerce in the
country.
• it criminalizes and penalizes hacking and
“electronic” piracy.
ECA
• The first part deals with electronic commerce
in general, while the other focuses on
electronic commerce in specific areas – in this
case e-commerce in the carriage of goods.
• The ECA, like the Model Law, was intentionally
drafted as a open-ended instrument which may be
supplemented or complemented by future work in
the other more specific areas of electronic
commerce.
ECA
• While the Act uses the word “e-commerce” in its
title, it does not mean it only applies to
strictly commercial activities.
• It is also applicable to non-commercial
transactions or activities like the prosecution
of libel cases, the giving of the termination
notices to an employee, or proving
psychological incapacity.
ECA
• It applies to the whole extent of legal
relations which may in any way use electronic
data messages — which means all relevant fields
of law may it be public or private, personal or
commercial, remedial or substantive.
• The legal effects of the ECA are all-
encompassing and penetrate every conceivable
legal relationship.
Underlying principles
• First, the ECA is grounded on the functional
equivalent approach. According to the Guide to
the Model law, the approach is “based on an
analysis of the purposes and functions of the
traditional paper-based requirement with a view
to determining how those purposes or functions
could be fulfilled through electronic commerce
techniques.”
Issues/Problems
• One purpose of the ECA is to remove certain legal obstacles in the
use of electronic data messages. In this way, a more secure legal
environment may be created for electronic commerce. By enabling
and facilitating the use of electronic commerce and providing
equal treatment to users of paper-based documentation and those
users of computer-enabled information, the ECA aims to spur the
development of the new economy and foster the efficiency of
international trade. However, the movement toward the use of
electronic data messages raises some key legal issues or problems.
Some of the major issues are: First, electronic documents face the
issue of their admissibility as evidence. Important questions that
need to be answered in this situation are: “What is an ‘original’
electronic document?”, “How does one authenticate electronic
documents?”,” Does the best evidence or the hearsay rule apply to
electronic documents?” Second, in the field of taxation, in the
on-line purchase of goods between individuals in different States,
where is the tax situs of the transaction? Third, there are
problems in venue and jurisdiction. For example, in which Regional
Trial Court should one file a libel suit against a person who made
malicious postings on an electronic message board?
Issues/Problems
• Fourth, together with the technological
development come more advanced and less
detectable ways of violating the privacy and
security of others. Fifth, there are serious
issues in intellectual property rights such as,
“Does one’s right to a trade name also include
the exclusive right to use it as a domain
name?” And sixth, there is the problem of
cybercrime. These are just some of the areas of
conflict which people have to deal with in the
digital world.