Contract law will apply to on-line contracts. For a binding contract you must establish the essential terms of the contract, the offer made, the acceptance and the relevant consideration. This can be done through electronic communications or directly on your website.
You can rely on the provisions in the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 to determine the time and place that an electronic communication is sent and received, which can be used to determine the acceptance of offers in contracts. However, it is better practice to outline what methods will be used to determine when the email is sent and when it is received in your terms and conditions. You should use a computer system and website design which allows for time-stamping and digital signatures (ie digital codes or IDs) so you can collect and retain a transaction audit trail.
Next topic in this section >>
Managing - Legal issues - Contracts 
