He said it would be a mistake to say that because it was so different or separated from other commercial activities e-commerce should be left to its own devices.
But it also would be foolish to assert that the Internet required a completely new regulatory framework for competition and consumer protections, he said.
It was necessary for traditional principles of competition and consumer protection laws and policies to apply to the Internet, he said.
Professor Fels, who is chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said new markets and the economic impetus of technology could give rise to old forms of economic abuse and the rise of e-commerce had exposed important issues in consumer protection.
This year the commission had received more than 800 complaints relating to Internet or e-commerce activities and the figure was growing. V-Many complains relate to issue including disclosure of terms and conditions of Internet access plans and pyramid selling schemes and there are also complaints about privacy, security, failure to receive goods, and websites that fail to display current prices or stock availability.
-Of equal concern is the 'hidden' level of dissatisfaction with e-commerce services where consumers have voted with their feet and simply decided not to engage in online transactions," he said.
Earlier this year the commission had examined 250 Australian websites and found they failed to provide even basic information, with more than 60 per cent not even providing information about refund or exchange policies.
-This suggests a significant problem."
Professor Fels said the commission was closely monitoring the development of business-to-business transactions and in particular was watching the development of electronic marketplaces.
He said that in many cases they may have the effect of increasing competition but there were a number of questions that needed to be asked such as who owned the marketplace, could the owners use it to exchange commercially sensitive information to further price fixing; and what restrictions were placed on buyers and sellers.
-It may be that the potential advantages outweigh the possible detriment in which case the parties may seek authorisations from the commission."
