Instead, the Department of Commerce and e-commerce firms are pushing for a different solution: in effect, a new system of private laws, which would avoid the requirement to abide by the laws of the countries where their customers live.

ECONOMIST: Stop signs on the web

Abandonment emails provide a cost effective solution to a huge e-commerce problem.

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The company is focused on e-commerce for two reasons: there is no universal solution on the internet to reduce friction at the checkout stage and checkout is probably where there is the most friction today.

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The Commission, the EU's executive body, said Thursday that the text agreed by justice ministers is a compromise solution, addressing the concerns of consumers and e-commerce practitioners alike.

CNN: European justices pass stiff e-commerce law

In an era where e-commerce and social media is continuing to blur the transaction line, the solution is as easy to pinpoint as a moving target.

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But could the solution to these problems reside in one of its main origins - the seemingly unstoppable march of e-commerce?

BBC: NEWS | Business | Mail order looks beyond the printed page