The modern world is going through constant transformations; new information
and communication technologies (including the Internet) involve not only new
rules but also significant changes in individual and collective attitudes. Being
aware of the new challenges entailed by the development of electronic commerce,
the authorities have set up an organisation enabling them to grasp the ins and
outs of e-commerce for everyone's sake !
The Internet Rights Observatory is also an area in which each citizen, closely
or remotely involved in ICT, can freely express his opinion and receive
information on the decisions that were taken or are to be taken in this regard.
In his capacity as Minister for the Economy, Charles Picqué is responsible for creating and maintaining a favourable economic climate. We are now all fully aware of the major importance of the development of e-commerce in this context and of its positive impact on the country's economic growth.
In spite of these legal mechanisms e-trade still raises many questions and
develops quite slowly. The main reason for this is the lack of confidence in
virtual space; the fear that personal data may be used for other purposes than
the ones for which they have been collected; the fear to make a non-written
commitment; the fear to trust a signature that is not handwritten; the fear to
purchase goods from a trader that one has never seen, …
It is a fact that legal provisions do not always provide clear answers to issues
in which new technologies are at stake. Does the consumer really have the
guarantee that he enjoys the same protection in the virtual world as in the real
world when the law does not provide so ? Not everyone can always afford to take
legal action in such cases. Many issues remain unsolved.
The bricks are available, but the concrete is still missing : to round off the
whole work we have to change people's attitudes, so that equal confidence can be
put in the material world and in the virtual world. This is indeed a problem of
society that has to be tackled as such, i.e. freely discussed among all actors
concerned.
It is therefore necessary to set up a thinking and consultation body among the
economic actors directly involved in the advent of new technologies.
The Government and more specifically the Minister for the Economy has to be
informed by the various economic actors on all problems raised by the use of new
information and communication technologies.
The full text of the Royal Decree of November 26, 2001 on the setting-up of the Internet Rights Observatory is downloadable in PDF format :
The Internet Rights Observatory is composed not only of persons with an undoubted experience in new technologies but also of representatives of the economic actors and representatives of ICT users. Moreover, the Minister for the Economy has an observer seat in this body. This also goes for the Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (no voting rights), given the importance of electronic trade for SMEs.
Consult here the members list.