Electronic Commerce - Ireland is quite progressed in the use, implementation and regulation of e-commerce.  As a late comer to the market, they have not had to deal with the imbedded users and the troublesome issues that plague the US based e-commerce companies.

• For instance, Ireland is finalizing the passage of the Electronic Commerce Act that will govern the use of e-signature, e-contracts, e-originals and e-records and cover these types of transactions as legally admissible in any instance where a signed hard copy original would be needed.  This is revolutionizing the areas of wills, trusts, testamentary instruments, powers of attorney and statutory affidavits.  The adoption of this Act will also change the effective delivery of certain documents.  Where it currently states that an original must be delivered, an electronic copy will now suffice.
• In addition, Ireland has the Electronic Commerce Association of Ireland (www.ecai.ie) that watches proposed regulations in the industry and provides assistance through seminars, networking opportunities and other on-line references to businesses getting on-line for the first time.
• Recently, Ireland On-Line and Bank of Ireland teamed to offer full online credit card clearance with the launch of ‘Clikpay’ – an Irish-developed product capable of processing Internet-based credit card transactions.  Clikpay is the first credit card payments system to be offered by an Irish bank over the Internet. It allows registered businesses to accept secure, real-time credit card payments from customers on their online shop front or Web site.  It is anticipated that products like Clikpay will stimulate growth in e-commerce, while addressing some residual concern among consumers and businesses about the security of credit card transactions over the Internet. Ireland On-Line has been working with Bank of Ireland and other financial institutions to develop systems that make Internet commerce easier. In conjunction with developments in secure transaction technology this work is expected to assist in the Government's ambition to establish Ireland as a center of excellence for e-commerce.
• "We expect the level of Internet transactions in Ireland to increase significantly as a result of this launch," said Nick Fahy, head of Internet business at Bank of Ireland. "It will increase business and consumer confidence and allow for the sale of more products and services online."

• A recent survey by MIDAS-NET called "Ireland Multimedia and Internet Survey 1998" showed that 41.3% Irish-owned firms and 58.7% foreign-owned firms are connected to the Internet. Ireland Online is the most popular service provider for Irish companies with 55%, followed by Indigo, 12.3%, Esat Net, 8.2%, Telecom Internet 14%, with 9.9% having their own connection. However, nearly half foreign-owned companies had their own connection and the remaining connections were with Ireland Online and Indigo. More information is available on www.midas.ie/survey/survey1998.html

Results of a Survey by Amárach Consulting
The Value of Irish e-commerce ¹⁰

A troubling development in the e-commerce area consists of an EU campaign to protect consumers on line.  A new drive to enforce a 1950s consumer protection law would allows a consumer to sue a company in the country in which the consumer resides, regardless of where the company is based. Critics say the law could harm the development of Europe's burgeoning online shopping market.  While Germany, France and some Scandinavian countries have extremely stringent regulations regarding advertising and retailing practices, Ireland, the U.K. and Spain are relatively lax.  "It creates serious problems," says Mike Pullen, a lobbyist in Brussels representing members of the Internet industry. "If you have a Web site in the U.K. offering two-for-one discounts, which are illegal in Germany, you're running the risk of falling afoul of the German jurisdiction."  Industry players recognize the double edged nature of the problem:  "Consumers must be protected otherwise there will be a boomerang effect from fraud, says Giovanni Cozzone, an Italian Internet venture capitalist. "But cross-border litigation would cripple commerce in Europe in the crib. The fact that each country in the EU has its own set of laws and rules does not help at all."  The snafu continues to unfold.

Internet Activity -

Internet usage among adults age 18-55 is 22 percent, as against 31 percent in the U.K. and 63 percent in the U.S., according to a recent study by Amarach Consulting. The market for e-commerce here is also small: About 13 percent of the Net users, or 58,000 people, bought something online last year – half as many as in the U.K., and just one-third of the U.S. figure.

Usage
Ireland has experienced rapid growth in Internet usage given:

• The falling cost of using the Internet, especially since the launch of free access.
• Decline in PC prices, with good quality, Internet-ready PCs costing less than £800 ($1,024 US).
• Growing consumer awareness of the value of the Internet
• The increasing volume of Irish content and Irish e-commerce services on the Internet.

• Irish Internet penetration is less than half that in North America, and two thirds that in the UK
• Lower level of home usage of the Internet by Irish consumers.
• Future growth of the net in Ireland will come from increased home usage.
• Only half of Irish adults with home PCs and modems are using the Internet from home.
• Early in the year 2000, the number of Irish users will pass the half million mark.
• By 2003 (if not sooner), this figure will pass the 1 million mark.

Ireland is currently thirty-second in the world for total number of internet hosts within the country.
A comphrensive list of the top 32 countries is below:
 
 

A Summary of the Primary ISPs for Ireland :

Basic $ -  is the cost of basic hosting package per year
Setup $  - is the cost of setting up the account - one time charge
Web Space -  is the amount of web space provided with package.
e-mail  - provides the details of e-mail addresses inlcuded with package.
1890  - refers to the availability of an 1890 number for dial in access.
            Using an 1890 number to dial in to your ISP makes it much more
            cost efficient when dialling at peak hours.
Support -  indicates whether or not technical support is provided and if there are any additional costs.
 

Name	Basic $	Setup $	Web Sapce	e-mail	1890	Support
ANU- Home	$192	--	10MB	5 POP3	Y	Y
ANU- ISDN	$256	--	10MB	5 POP3	Y	Y
Club Internet	$127	--	50MB	1 POP3	Y	Y
DNA Internet	$147	--	Unlimited	15 POP3	Y	Y
e-live	$192	--	5MB	5 POP3	Y	Y
e-live ISDN	$320	--	5MB	5 POP3	Y	Y
ESAT	FREE	$26	1oMB	5 POP3	N	Y
Gateway	FREE	--	15MB	5 POP3	N	Per Month
Indigo - Single User	$128	--	5 MB	1 POP3	Y	Y
Indigo - Business User	$310	--	5MB	4 POP3	Y	Y
Indigo - Go Free	FREE	--	5MB	1 POP3	N	Per Month
IOL - Single User	$192	$32	5MB	1 POP3	Y	Y
IOL - Business Account	$310	$32	5MB	3 POP3	Y	Y
Irish Web Trade	$230	$51	50MB	10 POP3	NA	Y
Ocean Free	FREE	--	NA	NA	N	Per Month
Tinet Home	$192	--	10MB	3 POP3	Y	Y

Source: www.millennium.ie/resource/isp.html ¹⁸
 

Text of Joint U.S./Irish Communique signed by President Clinton
and Prime Minister Bertie Ahern

Communiqué issued by the United
States of America and Ireland
on Electronic Commerce September 4, 1998
_________________________________________________
 

Global electronic commerce will be an engine of economic growth in the 21st century, with the potential to invigorate economies by enhancing productivity, streamlining distribution, and revamping corporate structures.

Electronic commerce will improve the standard of living of citizens in the United States and Ireland, as well as the rest of the globe, by creating new, high-paying jobs and opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, will benefit from new opportunities to sell their products to a world-wide market.

It is recognised that the liberalisation of the telecommunications markets plays a key role in the development of electronic commerce.

The Governments of the United States and Ireland recognise the importance of global co-operation in the promotion of electronic commerce and the need to reach coherent and effective global solutions in the construction of a seamless environment for electronic commerce and, in this respect, welcome the opportunity of building on the principles and guidelines agreed in the US-EU Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce and, in particular, would emphasise:

• the key role of industry in developing electronic commerce through the development of new services and                         by helping to set rules for the functioning of this market-place;
• that the role of government is to provide a clear, consistent and predictable legal framework, to promote a pro-competitive environment in which electronic commerce can flourish and to ensure adequate protection                     of public interest objectives such as privacy, intellectual property rights, prevention of fraud, consumer                 protection, and public safety;
• that unnecessary legal and regulatory barriers should be eliminated and the emergence of new ones should                     be prevented.   Where legislative action is deemed necessary, it should not be to the advantage or                disadvantage of electronic commerce compared with other forms of commerce;
• that taxes on electronic commerce should be clear, consistent, neutral and non-discriminatory; that there                 should be close co-operation and mutual assistance to ensure effective tax administration and to combat                     and prevent illegal activities on the Internet;
• the strong desirability of continuing the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic                 transactions; and
• that it is important to enhance the awareness and confidence of citizens and SME's in electronic                         commerce and to support the development of relevant skills and network literacy.

The United States and Ireland support and endorse the following fundamental principles which should guide the development of electronic commerce which should be essentially market-led and driven by private initiative:

1. Authentication/Electronic Signatures: Governments should support a global uniform commercial legal framework that recognises, facilitates, and enforces electronic transactions world-wide. A wide variety of authentication methods and technologies are developing rapidly. With respect to authentication and electronic signatures, efforts of the private sector in constructing rules and guidelines should be encouraged.

 The commercial legal framework should conform with the following principles:

• the acceptability of electronic signatures for legal and commercial purposes;
• the propriety and desirability of allowing parties to a transaction to determine the appropriate technological and business methods of authentication for their transaction; and
• the fostering of mutual cross-border recognition of electronic authentication methods and a non-discriminatory approach to electronic signatures from other countries as a necessary step in the removal of artificial barriers to cross-border commercial transactions

2. Privacy:  Ensuring effective protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data on global information networks is necessary.

3. Combating Illegal Use and Content: We encourage international co-operation between law enforcement authorities as a means of combating and preventing illegal activities on the Internet and the exploitation and illegal use of electronic commerce by criminal and terrorist organisations.

 Industry, through self-regulation, should establish effective measures to counter the proliferation of illegal content on the Internet.

4. Access Issues: In instances where users, such as parents, do not wish to receive certain types of content, industry should be encouraged to make available filtering or blocking systems or other tools, as appropriate. Industry should also be encouraged to develop content-rating systems to improve the effectiveness of filtering tools.

 Governments should not prevent their citizens from accessing information simply because it is posted in another country or in a foreign language. Furthermore, governments can use information technology to become more open, responsive, efficient and accessible to the public.

5. Electronic Payments: Market-driven developments in this area should be encouraged.

6. Intellectual Property Rights: Growth of electronic commerce depends on the adequate protection of intellectual property rights, which will be assisted by ratification and implementation, as soon as possible, of the W.I.P.O. Copyright Treaty and the W.I.P.O. Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

7. Domain Name System: In order to reach its full potential, the system for registering, allocating and governing Internet domain names should be global and market-based and reflect the geographically and functionally diverse nature of the Internet.

8. Consumer Protection: Electronic commerce should provide at least the same level of protection as in other forms of commerce.

9. Taxes: We will actively participate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development work toward developing framework conditions for the taxation of Electronic Commerce. Close co-operation and mutual assistance are necessary to ensure effective tax administration and to prevent tax evasion on the Internet.

In the furtherance of the principles set out in this statement, the United States and Ireland shall seek to encourage:

• closer co-operation between the two countries for promoting electronic commerce and to build on the strong US-industry presence in Ireland and the growing base of Irish companies in the United States as a means of developing our mutual interests in this area;
• further bilateral discussions at expert level, where appropriate, regarding the development of global electronic commerce;
• dialogue and co-operation among the market participants in both countries, since the market should lead in the development of electronic commerce;
• close co-operation with a view to encouraging the development of statistical data on electronic commerce; and,
• enhanced co-operation within relevant international fora to achieve global consensus on an international framework for electronic commerce.

Issued at Dublin - September, 1998

Portals

On December 8, 1999, one of Ireland's leading Internet Service Providers, Ireland On-Line (IOL), today announced details of a new portal site www.iol.ie. The launch of this new portal site, which will be available to all Internet users regardless of ISP affiliation, forms part of the overall Internet strategy of Esat Clear's (owner of the IOL brand), to grow Internet usage and develop the eCommerce market in Ireland.  This site purports to be the first true Irish portal site providing something for everybody. The site is based on the best and most customer-focused elements of the previous site provided by Ireland On-Line in addition to features of the Clearinfo and SearchIreland sites, combined to constitute an integrated portal site.  The site provides all Internet users with a wide range of services including updated news reports, sports and financial headlines; on-line services such as mail manager and a large interactive childrens microsite. Source: Esat Telecom ²⁴
 

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Last update: December 17, 1999 by ED/MM