Law and intelligent software agents: Marriage, or just a summer fling?

Intelligent software technology is no longer just a dream, but a wellestablished fact in the world of electronic commerce. From a commercial/practical perspective, the need for intelligent software agents is becoming urgent due to massive growth of information and ebusinesses available on the Internet, and because of the complexity of the electronic environment which necessitates the involvement of highly intelligent programs that are able to cope much more maturely with the different circumstances of such environment, and to autonomously process thousands of transactions in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. The emergence of such technology, however, has not only changed the way in which business is conducted over the Internet, but also generates considerable difficulties and consequences at a conceptual level especially regarding the fit between law and technology. Therefore, this chapter will highlight the way in which the law deals with software agents which participate actively in the electronic contract formation process. This chapter will further evaluate the legislative approaches regarding the liability for the actions of the intelligent software agent and the apportionment and management of risk in an online environment. For these purposes, reference will be made to a number of enacted legislations on an International, American, and European level which, in some way, have mentioned or dealt with the software agent.