E-commerce A Practical Guide to the Law Susan Singleton Gower, 45 400M

This book's coverage of UK e-commerce law is more of an achievement that its title suggests because, as author Susan Singleton says in the preface, "there are few e-commerce laws in the UK".

She suggests that what is needed is "coherent, international legislation such as already exists for areas such as intellectual property rights through bodies such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation".

One of her aims is to advise businesses on how to minimise risk and maximise the opportunities of e-commerce from a legal perspective. Anyone, from those who sell goods and services over the net to people who use it to send e-mails, could get something from it.

Employment, e-mail and the Internet, jurisdiction and advertising, contracting online, and problems are all covered. My favourite was the section on contracting, which would be the most relevant and interesting one for purchasers.

Among other issues, it covers questions such as are there terms and conditions on the site that can be viewed prior to contract? Is it clear which country's laws apply to the contract and where disputes will be handled? And has EU and UK competition law been complied with?

The layout of the chapters, with short paragraphs, checklists, tables, case examples, questions and answers, makes the book user-friendly. Appendices include useful model terms and policies, including a contract with a sub-contractor or designer. But, as the author writes, "the book is not an alternative to taking legal advice from qualified Internet and computer lawyers' It is most effective if the reader checks the descriptions of the law and advice with government and private websites (some are listed in the chapters and under "further information"), because few legal areas change as quickly as that of e-commerce law.

Some of the chapters are not relevant to buyers and the book does not cover all the legal aspects of e-procurement. Most purchasers would probably not be interested in the employment or consumer law sections. Overall, though, if you have no e-commerce law books or you need to get up to speed with this, consider buying it.

Paul Abbiati E-commerce law consultant PMMS