Miller, R. (2013). Fundamentals of Business Law: Summarized Cases. 9th ed. South-Western, Cengage Learning. ISBN: 978-1111530624
The Unit 2 reading centered on the structure of the American legal system of contracts law. As you are well aware the “digital age” is upon us and with it come the benefits and detriments of being able to dispense with formal written contracts and engage in contractual activity by electronic interface – online commerce. You will have an appreciation that the first step in making a contract is to have a meeting of the minds: The components of this element are i) the making of an offer, and ii) the making of an acceptance of the offer. Traditionally, the offeror can simply say to the offeree, “I will pay you $100 for 100 widgets.” This would be a face-to-face situation and the offeree might reply, “I agree to sell you 100 widgets for $100.” The arrangement may or may not be reduced to written form, but this is not necessary. Modernly, the offeror may well be sitting at a keyboard and never sees the offeree who is receiving the offer by electronic transmission on an iPad. This will increasingly be the reality in consideration of ecological sustainability concerns and the increasing power and efficiency of online communications. What contrasts can be made as to whether an offer and acceptance have been made in a face-to-face situation as compared with an online arrangement?