Advances in Social Behavior Research
Vol. 2, 07 September 2023
Open
Access | Article
A Brief Analysis of the Legal Status of Electronic Agents in Commercial Transactions
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
With the continuous advancement of technology, online transactions have gradually become the predominant mode of commerce in society. Currently, a new type of transaction facilitator has emerged in online transactions, known as electronic agents. This specialized concept and its legal definition originated in Western countries, and China has also adopted this concept. Electronic agents cannot be construed as natural persons, nor can they be fashioned as legal entities. They are merely tools capable of executing the will of individuals, albeit with some distinctions from conventional transaction tools. Establishing the legal status of electronic agents can reduce conflicts and contradictions related to online transactions in our current lives, facilitate the development of automated electronic transactions, and promote the rapid progress of our society. Currently, legislation in China in this regard remains uncharted territory, yet our lives are already enveloped by these online transactions. This has resulted in the inability to reach a unanimous resolution for many disputes involving electronic agents in our daily lives, leaving judges to resolve issues based on fundamental legislative principles or relevant legal provisions. The party employing the machine is often an organization with superior cognitive abilities compared to individuals. Therefore, we should consider electronic agents as their employees, and the actions they take should be the responsibility of legal or non-legal entities. It is essential to prioritize the protection of the weaker party as much as possible.
Keywords
electronic agents, legal personality, civil agency
References
1. Chen, L. (2009). Legal Personality Analysis of Electronic Agents. Journal of Mudanjiang University, 12.
2. Guo, W. H. (2001). Legal Issues in Cyberspace and Their Countermeasures. Law Press · China.
3. QI, A. M., WAN, X., & ZHANG, S. H. (2000). The Civil Law Principles of Electronic Contracts. Wuhan University Press.
4. SHI, S. K. (2000). General Principles of Civil Law. China University of Political Science and Law Press.
5. WANG, Z. H. (2018). On the Legal Personality of Electronic Agents. Modern Business Trade Industry, 1.
6. Zhang, C. (Ed.). (2000). Preliminary Study on E-commerce Law. China University of Political Science and Law Press.
7. Li, X. Y. (2006). Journal of China West Normal University(Philosophy & Social Sciences), 3, 40.
Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open Access Instruction).
- Volume Title
- ISBN (Print)
- ISBN (Online)
- Published Date
- 07 September 2023
- Series
- Advances in Social Behavior Research
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-7102
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-7110
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-7102/2/2023020
- Copyright
- 07 September 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited