ACT ON CONSUMER PROTECTION IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS, ETC.
CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1 (Purpose)
The purpose of this Act is to protect the rights and interests of consumers by regulating matters relating to the fair trade of goods and services by means of electronic commerce transaction, mail order, etc, and to contribute to the sound development of national economy by enhancing market confidence.
Article 2 (Definitions)
For the purpose of this Act, the definitions of terms shall be as follows: <Amended by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
1. The term “electronic commerce transaction” means conducting commercial activities by means of electronic commerce (referring to the electronic commerce pursuant to subparagraph 5 of Article 2 of the Framework Act on Electronic Commerce; hereinafter the same shall apply);
2. The term “mail order” means providing information on the sale of goods or services (including the right to use a specific facility or to be provided with services; hereinafter the same shall apply) by means of mail, telecommunications or other methods as stipulated by the Ordinance of the Prime Minister and selling goods or services (hereinafter referred to as “goods, etc.”) on consumer’s order: Provided, That the sale by telemarketing pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph 3 of Article 2 of the Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act shall be excluded;
3. The term “mail order distributor” means a person whose business is selling by mail order, or other person who is engaged in the mail order business in accordance with a contract with the former;
4. The term “mail order brokerage” means intermediating mail order between both parties of a transaction by allowing the use of a cybermall (referring to a virtual shopping mall which has been established in order to transact goods, etc. by using computers, etc. and information communications facilities; hereinafter the same shall apply), or by other methods as stipulated by the Ordinance of the Prime Minister;
5. The term “consumer” means a person who falls under any one of the following items:
a. A person who consumes (including using; hereinafter the same shall apply) goods, etc. supplied by the business operators for everyday consumption; and
b. Other than those provided for in item (a), the persons who conduct transactions on the same standing and conditions as those provided for in item (a), as prescribed by the Presidential Decree; and
6. The term “business operator” means a person who manufactures (including processing or packaging; hereinafter the same shall apply), imports, or sells goods or provides services.
Article 3 (Exclusion of Application)
(1) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the transaction in which a business operator (excluding a multilevel salesman pursuant to subparagraph 6 of Article 2 of the Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act; hereafter the same shall apply in this paragraph) buys for the purpose of commercial activity: Provided, That in case where the transaction is actually conducted under the same terms of transaction as other consumers in the capacity of consumer even though being a business operator, this shall not apply.
(2) The provisions relating to the duty to dispatch documents (including electronic documents; hereinafter the same shall apply) on the contents of the contract pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 (2) shall not apply to the transaction of the following subparagraphs: Provided, That in the case of subparagraph 1, the contents or the methods of delivery of the documents on the contents of contract may be made differently as stipulated by the Ordinance of the Prime Minister: <Amended by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
1. Transactions that the consumers conduct at all times in accordance with the already familiar terms and conditions, or standard methods of transaction, as stipulated by the Ordinance of the Prime Minister; and
2. Transactions stipulated in other Acts (excluding the Civil Act and the Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act) that the duty, etc. of delivery of contract document shall be fulfilled by a method different from the ones in the provisions of this Act.
(3) The provisions of Articles 13 through 19 shall not apply to the mail order distributor conducting the mail order brokerage between persons other than the mail order distributors.
(4) The provisions of Articles 12 through 20 shall not apply to the transactions of securities by the securities companies pursuant to the provisions of Article 2 (9) of the Securities and Exchange Act, transactions of financial products by the financial institutions prescribed by the Presidential Decree, and transactions for sale of everyday commodities, food, beverage, etc. in the neighborhood.
Article 4 (Relations with Other Acts)
In case where the provisions of this Act and those of other Acts are conflicting with each other in the consumer protection in the electronic commerce transaction or mail order, this Act shall be applicable in preference, but, in case where the application of other Acts turns out to be advantageous to consumers, such Acts shall apply.
CHAPTER 2 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TRANSACTION AND MAIL ORDER
Article 5 (Utilization of Electronic Message)
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 6 (2) 2 of the Framework Act on Electronic Commerce, in case where a business operator agreed with a consumer beforehand to make a transaction by means of electronic message, but fails to send an electronic message (referring to the electronic message of subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the Framework Act on Electronic Commerce; hereinafter the same shall apply) to the designated address (referring to the data processing system of subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Framework Act on Electronic Commerce), he shall not be able to assert his right out of such electronic message: Provided, That this shall not apply in case where prescribed by the Presidential Decree such as it is of great urgency, the consumer already anticipates that the transaction shall be made by an electronic message as well, or the consumer has already output the electronic message, etc.
(2) In case where a business operator intends to use an electronic message with a digital signature (referring to the digital signature pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Digital Signature Act; hereinafter the same shall apply), he shall, as prescribed by the Presidential Decree, notify the consumer of the validity, procedures and methods necessary for receipt, etc. of the relevant electronic message.
(3) In using the electronic message, a business operator shall not compel (including the case of de facto compulsion due to employment of special standards, etc.) the consumer to use a specific method of digital signature, and shall not unreasonably limit the use of a certain method of digital signature that the consumer has chosen.
CHAPTER 3 PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS’ RIGHTS AND INTERESTS
Article 23 (Formulation, etc. of Consumer Protection Guideline in Electronic Commerce Transaction, etc.)
(1) The Fair Trade Commission may hear the opinions of the parties of transaction, agencies and organizations of the related fields, and lay down a guideline (hereinafter referred to as the “consumer protection guideline”) to induce the spontaneous observance of business operator for the sound transaction order and consumer protection in the execution of electronic commerce transaction or mail order.
(2) In case the provisions of contract that the business operator employs are more disadvantageous to the consumers than the contents of consumer protection guideline, the business operator shall indicate or announce the provisions of contract that have been laid down differently from the consumer protection guideline so that the consumers can readily learn.
Article 24 (Contract, etc. of Consumer Damage Compensation Insurance)
(1) The Fair Trade Commission may encourage the related business operators to conclude a contract falling under any of the following subparagraphs (hereinafter referred to as a “contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance”) for the purpose of consumer protection in the electronic commerce transaction or mail order: Provided, That the issuer of settlement means pursuant to the provisions of Article 8 (4) shall conclude a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance: <Amended by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
1. Insurance contract pursuant to the Insurance Business Act;
2. Contract of guarantee for payment against debt with the institution under Article 38 of the Act on the Establishment, etc. of Financial Supervisory Organizations to secure payment of consumer damage compensation; or
3. Mutual aid contract with the mutual aid association established pursuant to paragraph (10).
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), where, with respect to the prepaid mail order, a consumer chooses to use the escrow system under Article 13 (2) 10 or requires the mail order distributor to conclude a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance, the mail order distributor shall allow the consumer to use such system or conclude the contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance pursuant to paragraph (1). <Newly Inserted by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005> ≪Enforcement Date: Apr. 1, 2006≫
(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) shall not apply to the case where a consumer performs the transaction falling under any one of the following subparagraphs: <Newly Inserted by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005> ≪Enforcement Date: Apr. 1, 2006≫
1. Transaction of buying goods, etc. the price of which is not more than the amount as prescribed by the Presidential Decree within the limit of one hundred thousand won;
2. Transaction of paying the price of goods, etc. by using credit cards under subparagraph 3 of Article 2 of the Specialized Credit Financial Business Act;
3. Transaction of buying goods, etc. which are sent through information and communications networks or the forwarding of which is not confirmable by such a third party as referred to in Article 13 (2) 10;
4. Transaction of buying goods, etc. supplied by installments for a certain period of time; and
5. Other transactions which are determined and announced by the Fair Trade Commission as not requiring the escrow system or the conclusion of a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance or as having difficulty in the utilization of such escrow system or the conclusion of such contract because the safety of purchase is firmly secured by any other Act or there exists any other cause similar to those provided for in subparagraphs 1 through 4.
(4) Necessary matters concerning the use of the escrow system or the conclusion of a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance under paragraph (2) shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree. <Newly Inserted by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005> ≪Enforcement Date: Apr. 1, 2006≫
(5) The contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance shall reach an adequate level for the compensation of damage to consumers following the acts in violation of this Act, or for securing the confidence of issuer of settlement means pursuant to the provisions of Article 8 (4). In this case, the detailed standards shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
(6) The person who is responsible to pay the consumer damage compensation pursuant to the contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance shall, without delay, pay it in case a cause of payment arises. In case where he delays it, he shall pay the compensation for delay.
(7) The business operator who intends to conclude a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance shall not submit false data in submitting data on sales amount, etc. to conclude a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance.
(8) The business operator who has concluded a contract, etc. of consumer damage compensation insurance under paragraph (1) may use a mark indicating the fact, but the business operator who has not concluded such a contract, etc. shall not use a mark pursuant to the provisions of the former part, or make or use other similar marks. <Amended by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
(9) The provisions of paragraph (8) shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the use of the escrow system under paragraph (2). <Newly Inserted by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
(10) The business operators who conduct the electronic commerce transaction or the mail order distributors may establish a mutual aid association to protect consumers pursuant to paragraph (1). In this case, the provisions of Article 35 of the Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the establishment and operation of the mutual aid association on condition that, in Article 35 (1) of the said Act, “business operators who have made the report under Article 5 or had each of their business registered under Article 13” shall be deemed as “business operators who conduct the electronic commerce transaction or the mail order distributors” and “Article 34 (1) 3”, “Article 24 (1) 3 of the Act on the Consumer Protection in the Electronic Commerce Transactions, etc.”, and, in Article 35 (9) and (10) of the Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act, “this Act” shall be deemed as the “Act on the Consumer Protection in the Electronic Commerce Transactions, etc.”, respectively. <Newly Inserted by Act No. 7487, Mar. 31, 2005>
Article 24-2 (System of Registering Intentions to Refuse Receipt of Unsolicited Commercial Advertisements, etc.)
(1) To protect consumers from the acts of mail order distributors soliciting for the purchase of goods or being provided with services by means of telephone, facsimile, or electronic mail, etc. (hereinafter referred to as the “spam messages”), the Fair Trade Commission may build the system to register the consumers’ intentions to refuse the receipt of such spam messages (hereinafter referred to as the “system to register the consumers’ intentions to refuse the receipt of spam messages”) under which they can explicitly indicate and register their intentions to refuse the receipt of such spam messages.
(2) A mail order distributor who desires to send spam messages to consumers shall confirm whether or not the intentions of the consumers concerned to refuse the receipt of such spam messages are registered through the system to register the consumers’ intentions to refuse the receipt of spam messages as prescribed by the Presidential Decree and shall not send such spam messages to those who have registered their intentions to refuse the receipt of such spam messages: Provided, That this shall not apply to the cases where the mail order distributor has obtained separate consent thereto from the individual consumers under the conditions as prescribed by the Presidential Decree. ≪Enforcement Date: Apr. 1, 2006≫