The rights of consumers in Internet transactions will be regulated

The existence of the Internet in the world of communication can no longer be avoided. The sophisticated instrument used by the United States Department of Defense in 1957 to communicate with its colleague has become an important communication tool worldwide. It is spreading tremendously and now almost every country in the world is using the internet to communicate. The main users of the Internet are the United States, Japan and China and they take the role in communication through the Internet. These three countries are predicted to dominate Internet users and is equivalent to half of the world’s population.

The benefits of the Internet no longer need to be questioned. Facilities like E-mail/Listserv/Mail Exploder; search/web/ftp; Usenet and Newsgroup are very useful for Internet users to interact with each other, socialize, communicate and exchange information. But it is really unfortunate that such huge benefits are often misused by Internet users.

Crimes like hacking, cyber chatting, terrorism, fraud, theft especially of bank details, personal data, intellectual property rights, sabotage, harassment and denial of service are the most regularly occurring crimes. The reasons are varied, such as the competition and interest of businesses, groups and organizations, and hobbies. In many cases the purpose is to obtain personal benefits. For example, the case of Steven Haryanto with wwwklikbca.com, klikbca.com, klickbca.com who have tricked consumers into banking online. The purpose is simply to steal the private data of consumers.

The indication of misuse of the Internet is quite apprehensive. Steven’s talent in creating deceptive websites to target and trap careless BCA customers should be noted. What is Steven’s goal and motive if it’s not something to do with the crime? Similar to such a case, fake internet transaction websites offered fake luxury products such as Rolex watches, brand bags, international brand shoes, and international books where sellers expect buyers to pay for sold products with credit cards. Once the transaction and payment is completed, but the purchased goods have never been delivered.

From the survey carried out by 12 global consumer organizations at the end of 1998 and 1999 it was reported that the negative factor of Internet transactions faced by consumers so far is that one in ten of the ordered products have never been accepted by consumers. . Another case is that 2 buyers from England and Hong Kong waited more than 5 years to receive a refund from the seller. In addition, almost 73% of sellers did not honor the contract in online transactions and 25% of sellers do not mention their addresses and phone numbers in the online transaction. The result is that consumers will be harmed, so where should consumers report it?

Crimes in the Internet world happen so often, but to this day, Indonesia has still not tried to provide any legal protection to consumers. On the other hand, the development of information and technology has increased the use of the Internet. If legal protection remains too low, crime will continually increase in the future.

We must realize that in an Internet transaction, Internet users or consumers expect there to be law and legal order. Buyers want there to be no false advertisements or spread websites that can ultimately harm their interests in the transaction. On the other hand, Internet marketers also have the same principle that there will be law and order in conducting business on the Internet. Therefore, it can be concluded that sellers and buyers expect the certainty of law and trade through the world of websites so that both parties have the same rights and duties.

Legal certainty for the Internet field in Indonesia has not yet been realized. It happens continuously since there is no valid rule that governs the interests of the entrepreneur and consumers. For a developed country like England, they already have a model of protection for consumers, especially for internet transactions. One of them is the Distance Selling Regulations 2000 which govern the rights of consumers in internet transactions. Article 7 Paragraph 1 stipulates that providers/entrepreneurs are obliged to provide the information to consumers at the appropriate time before making any transaction.

The information contains the identity of the entrepreneur, delivery time, price, payment system and the most important thing is that the consumer has the right to cancel the transaction, except for special conditions as mentioned in article 13 of the regulation, for example that the price of goods fluctuates depending on the market. How is consumer protection in Indonesia? We could only be patient and wait for the realization.