The Ministry of Digital Development should look into Shopee Taiwan Private Ltd for increasing its shipping prices while benefiting from clauses in its liability disclaimer and terms of service, the Economic Democratic Union said yesterday.
Economic Democratic Union researcher Ou Hsu-shao (歐栩韶) said that the think tank in March pored over Shopee Taiwan’s terms of service, with Article 22 sparking concern.
The article says that Shopee “does not guarantee that this service, the Web site and its functions can be saved or loaded, nor does it guarantee accessibility via the Internet, for real-time provision of services.”
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
It “does not guarantee the reliability and accuracy of this service, nor guarantee that it will be entirely error-free,” it says. The company “cannot guarantee that the Web site or its services will be free of viruses or other malicious coding.”
Article 22-3 says that users “recognize that, to the greatest extent of the law ... they are accept all responsibility for such risks when using the service or the Web site.”
The clauses contravene Item 13 of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Regulations on Contents for Standard Contracts for Internet-based Transaction (零售業等網路交易定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項), Ou said, adding that the Economic Democratic Union has notified authorities of the issue.
Item 13 says that business operators must ensure that their computer systems for transactions with consumers have security that meets generally reasonable expectations.
The Taipei Office of Commerce on March 28 sent Shopee Taiwan an official notice that said its terms of service contravened item 13 and citing provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) ordered the company to prepare a report on how it would ensure that improvements are implemented.
However, while Shopee amended Article 22-1 of its terms of service to say it ensures that its system meets the reasonable safety standard, it still has to change wording elsewhere in the article, Ou said.
The authorities should determine whether articles 22-2 and 22-3 comply with the regulations, she said, adding that Minister of Digital Development Audrey Tang (唐鳳) should act.
The ministry said that it has ordered Shopee Taiwan to issue a response and is looking into the legality of its disclaimer clauses.
If the clauses are found to be illegal, the company would be required to change the wording, it said.
Shopee said that it would comply with instructions from the government.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
RSS