Ireland

[IE] Recent Developments in Electronic Commerce

IRIS 2000-9:1/27

Candelaria van Strien-Reney

Faculty of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway

In July 2000, Ireland enacted legislation dealing with electronic commerce (See IRIS 2000-8: 11). The Electronic Commerce Act 2000 is now in force and will form the basis for further participation by Ireland in the new regulatory framework for electronic communications and services proposed by the European Commission. The Irish telecommunications market was deregulated on 1 December 1998 (see IRIS 1999-3: 14), and the Minister for Public Enterprise has welcomed the European Commission’s proposal to “unbundle the local loop”, as it will provide an opportunity to increase competition and benefit consumers.

As a result of the Electronic Commerce Act, An Post (the Irish post office company) has launched its first range of electronic commerce initiatives, “www.billpay.ie.” This permits consumers to pay bills in a secure manner by using the Internet. The Irish Government has indicated that it may be willing to provide funding to upgrade the post office network in order to open the opportunities provided by electronic commerce and the Information Society to as great a number of Irish citizens as possible. Finally, as part of the Government’s strategy to develop Ireland as a major location for e-business, it has been announced that a major European e-business centre is to be established in Ireland. The centre will offer complex web hosting and Internet infrastructure services, hardware and software procurement and installation, content distribution, integration and management services, systems applications and professional services.