Electronic Agents and the Law of Agency

1
Electronic Agents and the Law of Agency

• ITTIG-CNR Florence
• Federica De Miglio-Tessa Onida
• Francesco Romano-Serena Santoro

2
Introduction

• Problems with electronic agents arise
• We have to clarify them in legal terms

3
Two differents points of view

• North American Common Law system
• Civil Law system

4
Definition of electronic agent

• Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act
  (UCITA), 1999
• Computer program, or electronic or other
  automated means, used by a person to initiate an
  action, or to respond to electronic messages or
  performances, on the persons behalf without
  review or action by an individual at the time of
  the action, or response to a message or
  performances

5
The legal point of view

• Is it possible to compare under the law the
  traditional relationship between agent, principal
  and third party and the new relationship between
  agent-software, principal and third party?

6
The notion of Proxy

• An act which unilaterally, with no need of
  acceptance, makes the proxy able to bind his
  principal
• The validity of the contract closely depends on
  the existence of a valid autonomous will of the
  proxy

7
Making the person behind the electronic agent
responsible to the third party

• The Apparent agency solution
• The Electronic signature of the principal solution

8
Making the electronic agent itself liable to the
third party

• The problem of the legal status of the electronic
  agent
• The Registry solution
• The legal fiction solution

9
Distinction between legal subjectivity and legal
personality

• Elements of subjectivity imputation/legitimation
  unity/alterity patrimonial responsability
• Legal personality as an attribute by the legal
  system based on three aspects moral authority,
  social capacity and legal convenience

10
Conclusions (1)

• There is a kind of limited personality - that can
  be also called subjectivity without personality -
  that can be attributed to certain collective
  forms which the legal order does not recognise
  have legal personality

11
Conclusions (2)

• The legal order could positively recognise to
  electronic agents the minimum element of
  imputation/legitimation so they can be recognised
  as legal subjects without personality
• This theory is confirmed in positive law

12
Conclusions (3)

• The element of imputation/legitimation is not
  enough to also have the unity/alterity of the
  subject
• It represents, however, a first step towards
  introducing electronic agents into the legal world