The Legal Status of Electronic Agents in Electronic Contracts (A Comparative Study)

Numerous legal issues have raised due to the development of modern technologies of communication. In the context of contracts, this phenomenon had significant effects and caused the necessity of considering the application of issues of contracts in the context of cyberspace. The law of agency is one of these issues which its rules are going to be brought up in the context of electronic contracts through the present essay. The essay is also going to analyze the legal role of artificial mind, called 'electronic agent', in the process of electronic contracts through interactive websites. It responds to this key question that whether the electronic agent is a merely a tool of communication between the parties or it has an independent legal personality, or its status is something else in this process. In this regard, first, contract law in Iran, Electronic Commerce Act (1382) and various doctrines about the analyzing the legal status of electronic agent are examined and criticized comparatively. Then, the Author’s opinion will be presented