SummaryThis article discusses contract law and contract formation on the Internet. It summarizes the basic principles of forming a binding contract, as well as the proper method for achieving this on the web. The Hines v. Overstock.com case is also referenced, with an analysis of what Overstock.com could have done to avoid litigation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay It is common knowledge that binding contracts were usually signed by hand before the Internet. The rise of the Internet has led to the adoption of laws such as the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act by a majority of states, and the Electronic Signatures in Global and Domestic Commerce Act at the federal level, both making essentially electronic contracts as enforceable as written contracts (Craig, 2013, p.71-72). As might be expected, the application of contract law to an entirely new medium (in which both parties are generally not physically present) has raised new questions. Although the requirements for creating a binding contract remain the same, how can this be achieved effectively on the Internet? In the context of the Hines v. Overstock.com case, Overstock.com lost the case because it did not sufficiently exercise the answer to the question. What Overstock.com could have done, in addition to a brief overview of contract law and what is required on the Internet, will be covered in the following sections of this document. There are 2 basic requirements in contract law to enter into a contract, whether it is formed online or not. According to Craig (2013), “the fundamental requirements of an agreement are mutual agreement and consideration” (p. 73). Craig continues to explain that the ability of both parties to enter into a contract and a legal purpose for the contract are also necessary (p. 73). These requirements, although important, will not be discussed further as this document primarily focuses on the requirement for mutual agreement. That being said, the concept of mutual agreement in offering and accepting contracts electronically – especially when there is a large entity entering into hundreds of thousands of binding contracts per day in the form of end users or customers – requires a way for this to be achieved effectively. . It could be argued that large and small online retailers cannot offer and view a specific contract every time a customer makes a purchase. According to Craig, this problem is solved by using clickwrap agreements and browsewrap agreements to establish mutual agreement in an electronic contract (p. 77). To summarize Craig, clickwrap agreements occur when a program or website prompts a user to enter into a contract (often called an end user license agreement or terms of service agreement), and the user must deliberately click on a button that says “I agree” to continue. However, this article is more interested in navigation agreements and will be discussed in the next section. Alternatives to browse agreements, browse agreements are also used to form a mutual agreement between the website and the user. According to Craig (2013), “With a browser agreement, users do not need to “click through” to agree to the website’s terms. Instead, browsers somehow indicate that use of the site constitutes acceptance of its terms of service” (p. 78). This initially posed a problem for the courts because at first glance a website might appear to be hiding its.