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The conclusion of contracts by software agents in the eyes of the law

Published: 12 May 2008 Publication History

Abstract

Faced with the ongoing evolution of software agents from mere passive tools to e-tailers acting autonomously for their human owners (principals), new legal challenges appear on the agenda. One of them is the question, whether the traditional law of agency that regulates the legal issues arising from human agents constituting legal relations between their principal and a third party, is applicable for software agents as well.
Based on the characteristics of software agents this paper examines approaches for a legal classification of software agents and thereby analyzes current legislation that deal with the conclusion of contracts by software agents. Finally, this paper addresses remaining legal questions and discusses proposed solutions.

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  • (2011)An agent infrastructure for privacy-enhancing agent-based e-commerce applicationsProceedings of the 10th international conference on Advanced Agent Technology10.1007/978-3-642-27216-5_31(411-425)Online publication date: 2-May-2011

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    AAMAS '08: Proceedings of the 7th international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems - Volume 2
    May 2008
    673 pages
    ISBN:9780981738116

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    International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems

    Richland, SC

    Publication History

    Published: 12 May 2008

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    1. law of agency
    2. legal aspects
    3. software agents

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    • (2011)An agent infrastructure for privacy-enhancing agent-based e-commerce applicationsProceedings of the 10th international conference on Advanced Agent Technology10.1007/978-3-642-27216-5_31(411-425)Online publication date: 2-May-2011

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