Today it can hardly be denied that the rapid development of the World Wide Web has had a great impact not only on international business and business in general, but also on all aspects of our lives. Nowadays it is possible to buy everything on the 'net' - from plane tickets or souvenirs to expensive luxury cars.

     From a business point of view, Internet commerce ('e-commerce') has a special, global status - the Internet, like the Earth, does not belong to anyone, and at the same time is available to everybody. The difference lies in the fact that the Earth is strictly divided by national borders into separate segments - republics, independent territories and other national entities whereas the Internet has no borders. The World Wide Web does not belong to any country, it is open and provides a common space for communication, information exchange and business transactions.

     The range of business offered via the Internet, is quite diverse. In the World Wide Web, as in the real world, there are not only honest entrepreneurs, but also quick cash-collection merchants and other easy moneymaking schemes. Their main trump card is the ineradicable wish of many people to earn fantastic sums of money quickly, without any effort, or to buy something valuable for a penny.

     However, as in everyday life, far outnumbering one-day wonders, are the companies with a good reputation, who use the Internet as a modern and effective vehicle for the further development of their business. Today almost all leading banks, auditors and consultancies have their own website, providing information on their services and offering clients who are at too far a distance or too busy, a direct service via the Internet. In addition, e-commerce is frequently used in such spheres as the sale of software, information, e-products (i.e. music, films etc.), as well as the sale of ordinary, tangible goods.

     By undertaking commercial activities via the Internet, an entrepreneur creates the first branch of his company in the virtual world. It should be noted that any organisation with an Internet ("virtual") office has a great many advantages compared with an office located in, say, Warsaw or Tokyo. Here are some of them:

     In order to run their business effectively, entrepreneurs have to start by providing a stable and legal basis for their activities; otherwise they might experience losses instead of commercial success. First of all, it is worth to consider that e-business is run under totally different conditions. The Internet is a common virtual territory for the whole world beyond any country and customary borders, so that you have a practically unlimited number of potential clients at your disposal.

     We all know that the best means of running a business beyond the borders of a specific country (this includes the Internet), is the stable and lawfully incorporated non-resident company. There are unique opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between non-resident companies and the Internet.

     In conclusion, as far as the issue of the legal basis for e-commerce is concerned, we should like to state that the entrepreneur, operating on the net, should nevertheless observe the rules of international law and international conventions. For example, one of the most effective pieces of legislation that applies to the Internet, is the Law on Copyright Protection. Violations of this law (e.g. using visual or textual content of web pages, which is subject to copyright held by a third party) are prosecuted much more efficiently than in the 'real' world, and in most cases end in court.