Unsolicited Goods and Services (Electronic Communications) Order (Northern Ireland) 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order is made under section 1 of the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 and amends the Unsolicited Goods and Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (the 1976 Order) so as to make provision for orders to be placed electronically for directory entries.

Article 5 of the 1976 Order provides that a directory publisher may not lawfully demand payment in respect of a directory entry without first having obtained from the prospective purchaser one of two alternative forms of agreement, in written paper form, to the charge to be made for the entry. If a publisher demands payment or asserts a present or prospective right to payment without knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the directory entry was ordered in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, then he commits an offence.

This Order provides that the publisher will comply with Article 5 of the 1976 Order if he receives an electronic communication in the prescribed form from the person seeking to place an entry, on the condition that, before the electronic communication is transmitted by that person, the publisher has communicated specified information to that person.