Culmination of Law

Culmination of Law

The Legal Nature of Hyperlinks in The Iranian Legal System

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mansour Amini 1
Sadegh Sayyadi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2 MA. in Private Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/thdad.2023.528296.1767
Abstract
Being part of e-commerce based on new technologies, “Hyperlinks” refer to a word, phrase, or image by which one can move to a new page through touching or clicking on them. Essentially, they are found on all “Computer Program” input pages, providing consumers with the possibility of being redirected to the suppliers’ desired pages. In these pages, all consumers are provided with pre-determined and non-negotiable “Terms and Conditions”. In order for taking the advantage of the provided services, they have to accept all terms and conditions. Iranian legal system has not yet analyzed the legal nature of this institution. The present study is aimed at examining the hyperlinks’ legal nature in computer programs. This article is conducted by analytical-descriptive and library methods. The results introduce five essential conditions for the accuracy of inserting any hyperlink, divided into two categories of legal conditions (1- Observance of general terms governing the electronic contract law 2- Failure to insert terms that are contrary to consumer rights and unfair 3- Warning about the effects of membership in the program) and technical conditions (1- Inserting hyperlinks with a distinct structure 2- Necessity of predicting the possibility of touching or clicking the hyperlink). The sanctions of each of these terms is different from each other. The nature and effects of hyperlinks are determined according to the content of the hyperlinks and the type of computer program design; hence, hyperlinks cannot be specified with a fixed nature; On the one hand, according to the analyses based on the e-commerce law, it is identifiable under two titles: 1- Pre-contractual disclosure 2- Referral conditions; and on the other hand, according to the analyses based on civil law, it can be identified under three titles: 1- Preliminary contract 2- Condition of collusion 3- Request for offer along with a subcontract.
Keywords
Hyperlink
Legal Nature
Essential Conditions
Computer Program
Electronic Commerce
Iranian Legal System

Subjects

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